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HISTORY 



STATE OF NEAV YORK 



JOHN ROMEYN HRODHEAD. 




16 9 — 1664. 



N E W Y () K K : 

HARPER A- BROTHERS. PUBLISHERS, 

3 2<t <t 331 PEARL STREET, 

FKANKLIN SQUARE. 

1853. 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the Year 1853, by 

John R o m e y n B r <i d h e a d, 

In the Clerk'p Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southerr. 
District of New Ylttk. 
f 






P E E F A C E. 



There are four marked periods in the history of the State of 
New York. The fiirst, opening with its discovery by the Dutch 
in 1609, and closing with its seizure by the English in 1664, com- 
prises also the early history of New Jersey, Delaware, and Penn- 
sylvania, and, to some extent, that of Massachusetts, Rhode Isl- 
and, and Connecticut. The second begins with the ascendency 
of the English in 1664, and ends with the cession of Canada to 
P^ngland in 1763, by which all the Northern colonies in America 
became subject to the British crown. The third, reaches from the 
treaty of Paris in 1763, to the inauguration of "Washington as 
President of the United States in 1789. The fourth embraces 
the annals of the state from the organization of the Federal gov- 
ernment. 

This volume contains a history of the first of these periods. In 
that period many of the political, religious, and social elements 
of New York had their origin. It offers varied themes which in- 
vite attention ; the savage grandeur of nature ; the early adven- 
ture of discovery and settlement ; the struggle with barbarism, 
and the subjugation of a rude soil ; the contrast and blending of 
European with American life ; the transfer of old institutions ; the 



ji PREFACE. 

intermingling of races ; the progress of commerce ; the establish- 
ment of churches and schools ; the triumph of freedom of con- 
science over bigotry ; the development of principles of self-govern- 
ment within, and the action of encroachment and conquest from 
without. 

The preparation of this book has not been without much care 
and labor. Many of its materials are now employed for the first 
time ; the numerous references to others show the extended re- 
sources which, under the recent impulse to American historical 
investigation, have been brought within reach. It is submitted 
to the judgment of the public in partial execution of a purpose 
contemplated for many years ; with a desire to aid in the vindi- 
cation of truth ; and with a full consciousness of the importance 
of the subject and of the fidelity due to the fit performance of the 
work. 

John Romeyn Brodhead. 

New York, November, 1852. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

1492—1609. 

Columbus' Discovery, and Papal Donation of the New World to Spain, page 1 ; Cabot 
and Verazzano, 2 ; Cartier and Roberval, 3 ; Frobisher, 4 ; Gilbert and Raleigh, 
5 ; Virginia, 5, 6 ; Gosnold at Cape Cod, 7 ; Pring on Coast of Maine, 8 ; Wey- 
mouth's Voyage, 9 ; Virginia Charter, 10 ; Jamestown founded, 12 ; Sagadahoc 
Colony, 13-15; New Charter for Virginia, 15; Pont Grave and Champlain in 
Canada, 16; De Monts and Poutrincourt at Port Royal and Saint Croix, 16, 17; 
Quebec founded, 18 ; Lake Champlain discovered, 18 ; Dutch maritime Enter- 
prises, 19-22 ; Dutch East India Company, 23 ; West India Company proposed, 
24 ; Hudson in Holland, 24 ; Hudson sails from Amsterdam in the Half Moon, 
25 ; At Penobscot, 26 ; At Cape Cod, 26 ; At the Capes of the Chesapeake, 26 ; 
In Delaware Bay, 26 ; Anchors in Sandy Hook Bay, 27 ; Death of John Colman, 
28 ; Hudson ascends the "River of the Mountains," 28-31 ; Descends the River, 
32, 33 ; At Hoboken, 34 ; Arrives at Dartmouth, 34 ; Reports to the Dutch East 
India Company, 34, 35; The River of the Mountains in 1609, 35-37. 

CHAPTER II. 

1609—1614. 

The Dutch an independent Nation when Hudson made Discoveries in their Service, 
38^2 ; Hudson's Voyage to the North, and Death, 42, 43 ; The Half Moon returns 
to Amsterdam, 43 ; Another Ship sent to Manhattan, 44 ; Christiaensen's and 
Block's Voyages, 45, 46 ; Other Ships sent, 47 ; Yacht built at Manhattan, 48 ; 
Virginia Affairs, 49 ; Lord Delawarr, 50 ; Never in Delaware Bay, 51 ; Argall on 
the Coast of Maine, 52 ; His alleged Visit to Manhattan, 54 ; Fort Nassau built 
on Castle Island, 55 ; Block explores Long Island Sound in the Yacht " Restless," 
55 ; Discovers the Housatonic and Connecticut, 56 ; Block Island, 57 ; Rhode 
Island, 58 ; Pye Bay and Boston Harbor, 58 ; Returns to HoMand, 59 ; Amster- 
dam Trading Company formed, 60 ; Deputies sent to the Hague, 61 ; New Neth- 
erland Charter of the 11th of October, 1614, 62; Its Provisions, and the Views 
of the States General, 63, 64 ; Block in the Arctic Ocean, 65. 

CHAPTER III. 

1615—1620. 

.New Netherland Company, 66 ; Death of Christiaensen, 66, 67 ; Champlain discov- 
ers Lake Huron and Lake Ontario, 68 ; At Onondaga Lake, 69 ; Onondaga Fort 



. CONTENTS. 

attacked, 69-71 ; Indian Tribes along the Cahohatatea, or North River, 72-77 , 
Hendricksen explores the South or Delaware River, 78, 79 ; Returns to Holland, 
79 ; New Charter for South River apphed for and refused, 80 ; Fort Nassau de- 
stroyed, 80 ; New Post on the Tawasentha, 81 ; The Konoshioni, or Iroquois, 82- 
87 ; Treaty of the Tawasentha, 88 ; Expiration of the New Netherland Charter, 
89 ; Its Renewal refused, 90 ; Smith in New England, 91 ; Dermer passes through 
Long Island Sound to Virginia, 92 ; Dermer at Manhattan, 93 ; Patent for Nev.- 
England, 94-96 ; Progress of Dutch Explorations, 97. 

CHAPTER IV. 

1620. 

Prosperity of Holland, 98 ; The Reformation in the Netherlands, 99 ; First Preacli- 
ing of "the Reformed," 100 ; Establishment of the Reformed Religion, 101 ; Tol- 
eration of other Religions, 102 ; Calvinism of the Dutch Clergy, 103 ; The Gom- 
arist and Armenian Controversy, 104, 105; The Remonstrants, 106; Maurice 
and Barneveldt, 107, 108; The Synod of Dordrecht, 109, 110; Death of Barne- 
veldt. 111; The Church of England, 112; The Puritans, 113, 114; Puritans 
emigrate to Holland, 115; The Reformed Dutch Church, and the Church of 
England, 116-119; The Puritans dissatisfied in Holland, 120; Wish to emi- 
grate to America, 121 ; Their Patent from the Virginia Company, 122 ; Their 
Condition in Holland, 123; They propose to go to New Netherland, 124 ; Memo- 
rial to the Dutch Govemment, 125 ; Its Prayer refused by the States General, 
126; The Puritans leave Leyden, 127; Sail from Pl>™outh, 128; Their Desti- 
nation, 129 ; The Mayflower at Cape Cod, 130 ; Compact on board the Mayflower, 
131, 132; The Landing of the Pilgrims, 133. 

CHAPTER V. 

1621—1625. 

The Dutch West India Company incorporated, 134; Its Powers and Duties, 135, 
136 ; Its Organization delayed, 137 ; Private Ships sent to New Netherland, 137, 
138 ; Parliament jealous of the New England Patent, 139 ; Plymouth Company 
complains of the Dutch, 140 ; James claims New Netherland, and sends Instruc- 
tions to Carleton at the Hague, 141 ; Carleton's Memorial to the States General, 
142 ; Dutch and English Titles considered, 143, 144 ; Dutch Traders in liong Isl- 
and Sound, 145; Walloons in Holland, 146, 147; The West India Company or- 
ganized, 148 ; Takes Possession of New Netherland as a Province, 149 ; First 
permanent agricultural Colonization, 150 ; Fort Orange built, 151 ; Fort Wilhel- 
mus, 152 ; Fort Nassau, on the South River, 153 ; Walloons at the Waal-bogt, 
154 ; C. J. May first Director of New Netherland, 154 ; Ship of D. P. de Vries 
seized at Hoorn, 155 ; Dutch Ship arrested at Plymouth, 156 ; Publications of 
Wassenaar, De Laet, and Purchas, 157; More Colonists sent to New Nether- 
land, 158 ; Cattle at Nutten Island and Manhattan, 159 ; William Verhulst suc- 
ceeds May as Director, 159 ; Death of Maurice, 160 ; Of James I., 161 ; Treaty of 
Southampton, 161 ; Peter Minuit appointed Director General of New Netlier- 
land, 162. 



CONTENTS. V 

\ 

CHAPTER VI. 

1626—1629. 

ProviniMal Government under Minuit, 163 ; Purchase of iManhattan Island, 164 ; 
Fort Amsterdam begun, 165 ; Murder of an Indian near the Kolck, 166 ; Descrip- 
tion of Manhattan, 167; Affairs at Fort Orange, 168; Kriecivebeeck and Barent- 
sen, 169 ; Colonists removed from Fort Orange and the South River to Manhat- 
tan, 170 ; The Puritans at New Plymoutli annoyed at the commercial Superior- 
ity of the Dutch, 171 ; Long Island, or Sewan-hacky, the chief Manufactory of 
Wampum, 172 ; Correspondence between New Netherland and New Plymouth, 
173-175 ; Isaac de Rasieres sent as Ambassador, 176 ; At New Pljinouth, 177; 
Describes the Puritan Settlement, 178, 179 ; Mutual Trade, 180 ; The English 
Objections to the Dutch Title, 181 ; Minuit asks for Soldiers from Holland, 181 ; 
Charles I. favors the Dutch West India Company, 182 ; Revenue of New Neth- 
erland, 182 ; Population of Manhattan, 183 ; Heyn captures the Spanish Silver 
Fleet, 184 ; Infatuating Effect upon the West India Company, 185 ; Cost of New 
Netherland, 186 ; Charter for Patroons proposed, 187 ; Progress of the Coloniza- 
tion of New England, 188; Royal Charter for Massachusetts Bay, 189; Church 
organized at Salem, and religious Intolerance established, 190. 

CHAPTER VII. 
1630—1632. 
The Golden Fleece, 191 ; Dutch Towns, and the feudal System in Holland, 192, 
193 ; Charter for Patroons in New Netherland, 194-197 ; Its Effects, 198 ; Char- 
ter published, 199 ; Godyn and Blommacrt purchase on the South River, 200 ; 
Van Rensselaer buys on the North River, and begins to colonize Rensselaers- 
wyck, 201 ; Pauw purchases Pavonia and Staten Island, 202 ; Jealousies among 
the Directors at Amsterdam, 203 ; Patroonsliips shared, 204 ; Heyes sent to the 
South River, 205 ; Colony established at Swaanendael, 206 ; No Dutch Colonies 
on the Connecticut, 207 ; Winthrop founds Boston, 208 ; Extent of the New En- 
gland Settlements, 209; Connecticut Sachem at Boston, and Winslow, of New 
Plymouth, visits the Connecticut, 210 ; Lord Warwick's Grant of Connecticut, 
211; Great Ship "New Netherland" built at Manhattan, 212; Minuit recalled, 
213 ; His Ship arrested at Plymouth, and Negotiation in consequence with the 
British Government, 214-216; Ship released, 217; Difficulties between the Di- 
rectors of the West India Company and the Patroons, 218 ; Destruction of Sw-aan- 
endael by the Savages, 219 ; De Vries sails for the South River, visits the Ruinp. 
and makes a Peace, 219-221. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

1633—1637. 

Wouter van Twiller appointed Director General in Place of Minuit, 222 ; Arrive!^ 
at Manhattan, 223 ; First Clergyman, Schoolmaster, and provincial Officers, 223 ; 
Revenue and Expenditures, 224 ; De Vries at Fort Nassau, 225 ; Visits Govern- 
or Harvey in Virginia, 226 ; Pleasant Intercourse opened, 227 ; De Vries at Man- 
hattan, 228 ; English Ship sails up to Fort Orange, 229 ; Forced to return, 229 ; 



Vl 



CONTENTS. 



Van Twiller"s vexatious Conduct, 231 ; Corssen's Purchase on the Schuylkill. 
232 ; Affairs on the Connecticut, 233 ; The West India Company purchases Lands 
of the Savages there, 234; Commissary Van Curler completes Fort Good Hope, 
235 ; Van Twiller's Conduct toward De Vries on his Return to Holland, 236 ; 
Virginia Ship and New Plymouth Pinnace at Manhattan, 237 ; Massachusetts 
refuses to join New Plymouth in occupying Connecticut, 238 ; John Oldham's 
overland Journey, 239 ; Winthrop claims Connecticut, and Van Twiller replies, 
239, 240 ; New Plymouth Expedition to the Connecticut, 240 ; Dutch Protest 
against the Settlers at Windsor, 241 ; Treaty between Massachusetts and the 
Pequods, 242 ; Affairs at Manhattan, 243 ; Pavonia, Fort Nassau, Fort Orange, 
and Rensselaerswyck, 244 ; Van Twiller and Domine Bogardus, 245 ; English 
Complaints against the West India Company, and their Answer, 245, 246; 
Lubbertus van Dincklagen appointed Schout of New Netherland, 247 ; Difficul- 
ties between the Patroons and the Directors, 247, 248 ; Surrender of Swaanen- 
dael to the Company, 249 ; Clayborne's Explorations, 250 ; Motives for the Em- 
igration of Roman Cathohcs from England, 251 ; Lord Baltimore's Patent for 
Maryland, 252 ; Saint Mary's founded, 253 ; Harvey deposed and sent to En- 
gland, 254 ; Fort Nassau seized by a Virginian Party, 254 ; Retaken by the 
Dutch, and the English Prisoners sent back to Virginia, 255 ; Emigration from 
Massachusetts to Connecticut, 256 ; English Plantation Board, 257 ; Its Jealousy 
of the New England Colonists, 258 ; Long Island conveyed to Lord Stirling, 259 ; 
The New England Patent surrendered, and the younger Winthrop appointed 
Governor of Connecticut, 259, 260 ; The Dutch Arms torn down at the Kievit's 
Hook, 260 ; Lion Gardiner at Saybrook, 261 ; William Pynchon at Springfield, 
261 ; True European Title to Long Island and Connecticut, 262 ; Domestic Af- 
fairs at Manhattan and Pavonia, 263, 264 ; Lands taken up on Staten Island and 
Long Island, 265 ; Van Dincklagen sent back to Holland, 266 ; Beverwyck and 
Rensselaerswyck, 266, 267 ; Van Twiller's private Purchases, 267 ; Bronck's 
Purchase in West Chester, 268 ; Quotenis, in Narragansett Bay, and Dutchman's 
Island at the Pequod River, 268 ; Traffic with New England, 269 ; The Pequod 
War, 269-272 ; Complaints in Holland against Van Twiller and Bogardus, 273 ; 
William Kieft appointed Director General in Place of Van Tw iller, 274. 

CHAPTER IX. 

1638—1641. 

Arrival of Kieft at Manhattan, 275 ; Condition of Affairs there, 276 ; New Regula- 
tions, 277 ; Domine Bogardus retained, 278 ; Rensselaerswyck, Pavonia, and 
Long Island, 279 ; Jansen Commissary on the South River, 279 ; Swedish West 
India Company, 280 ; Minuit sails from Sweden, and anchors at Jamestown, 281 ; 
Arrives in the South River, and purchases Land, 282 ; Kieft protests against 
him, 283 ; Minuit builds Fort Christina, 284 ; Swedish Ship seized in Holland, 
284 ; The States General inquire into the Condition of New Netherland, 285 ; 
New Articles proposed by the Company, 286 ; By the Patroons, 287 ; Proclama- 
tion of freer Trade, 288 ; Its Effects, 288, 289 ; De Vries, Kuyter, and Melyn. 
289 ; Strangers attracted from New England and Virginia, 290 ; Captain John 
Underbill, 291 ; Obligations and Privileges of foreign Settlers in New Netherland, 
291 ; Grants of Land near Coney Island, Breuckelen, and Deutel Bay, 292 ; Do- 



CONTENTS. vii 

rnestic Administration, 292 ; Tribute proposed to be exacted from the Savages, 
293 ; New Haven, Stratford, Greenwich, and Hartford, 294 ; Aggressions of the 
Hartford People, 295 ; The Dutch purchase West Chester Lands, 296 ; James 
Farrett, Lord Stirling's Agent for Long Island, 297 ; Lion Gardiner at Gardiner's 
Island, 298 ; English Intruders at Sellout's Bay dislodged, 299 ; Southampton 
and Southold settled, 300 ; De Vries goes up to Fort Orange, 301, 302 ; Affairs 
at Beverwyck and Rensselaerswyck, 303-305 ; The Cohooes, 306 ; De Vries' 
Opinion of the North River, 307 ; Difficulties with the Savages, 307-309 ; The 
Dutch ordered to arm, 309 ; Expedition against the Raritans, 310 ; The Tappans 
refuse to pay Tribute, 310; New Charter for Patroons, 311 ; The Reformed 
Dutch Church established in New Netherland, 312 ; Vriesendael, Hackinsack. 
and Staten Island, 313 ; Provincial Currency regulated, and Fairs established, 
314; The Raritans attack Staten Island, 315; Smits murdered at Deutel Bay, 
316; The "Twelve Men" appointed, 317; Kieft urges War, 318; The Twelve 
Men oppose and avert Hostilities, 319; Swedes on the South River, 319; Do 
Bogaerdt, Powelson, and Hollaendare, 320 ; Death of Mimiit, 321 ; Lamberton 
and Cogswell's Expedition from New Haven to the Varken's Kill and the Schuyl- 
kill, 321, 322; Vexatious Conduct of the Hartford People, 322; Delegates sent 
to England from Massachusetts and Connecticut, 323 ; Hugh Peters commission- 
ed to treat with the West India Company, 324 ; Sir William Boswell's Advice to 
crowd out the Dutch, 324. 

CHAPTER X. 

1642—1643. 

The Twelve Men again convoked, 325 ; They demand Reforms, 326, 327 ; Kieft's 
Concessions, 328 ; Dissolves the Board of Twelve Men, 329 ; Expedition against 
the Weckquaesgeeks, and Treaty at the Bronx River, 330 ; Greenwich submits to 
the Dutch, 331 ; Roger Williams founds Rhode Island, 332 ; Emigrations from 
Massachusetts to New Netherland, 333 ; Doughty's Patent for Mespath, 333 ; 
Throgmorton at Vredeland, 334 ; Anne Hutchinson at "Annie's Hoeck,"33t; 
Strangers at Manhattan, 335 ; City Hotel for Travellers, 335 ; New Church at 
Manhattan, 336, 337 ; George Baxter appointed English Secretary, 337 ; New 
Haven Settlements on the South River broken up, 338 ; The Hartford People 
and the Dutch, 339 ; Threats in England against the Dutch, 340 ; Beginning of 
the Civil War in England, 341 ; Van der Donck, Schout Fiscal of Rensselaers- 
wyck, 341 ; Domine Megapolensis, 342 ; Church at Beverwyck, 343 ; The Jes- 
uits in Canada, 344 ; Father Jogues captured by the Mohawks, 345 ; Benevolent 
Efforts of Van Curler, 346 ; Van Voorst murdered by an Indian at Hackinsack, 
347 ; The Savages offer an Atonement, 348 ; Kieft demands the Murderer, 348 ; 
The Mohawks attack the River Indians, 349 ; Public Opinion at Manhattan, 349 ; 
Kieft resolves on War, 350 ; Warned in vain against his Rashness, 351 ; Mas- 
sacres at Pavonia and Corlaer's Hook, 352 ; The Long Island Indians attacked, 
353 ; The Savages aroused to Vengeance, 354 ; Vriesendael invested, 355 ; Pop- 
ular Indignation against Kieft, and Proclamation of a Day of fasting, 356 ; Prop- 
osition to depose Kieft, 356 ; Adriaensen and the Director, 357 ; De Vries and 
Olfertsen at Rockaway, 358 ; Treaty with the Savages, 359 ; The Indians still 
discontented, 360. 



viii CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XI. 

1643—1644. 

The United Colonies of New England, 361 ; Kieft addresses the Commissioners, 
362 ; Their Reply, 363 ; Murder of Miantonomoh, 364 ; The North River Sav- 
ages attack a Dutch Boat, 364 ; The Commonalty convoked, 364 ; " Eight Men" 
chosen, 365 ; Warlike Measures authorized, 365 ; English enrolled, and Under- 
hill taken into the Dutch Service, 366 ; Annie's Hook and Vredeland destroj^a, 
366 ; Lady Moody's Settlement at Gravesend attacked, 367 ; Settlers driven 
away from Mespath, 367 ; Hackinsack attacked, and Pavonia surprised, 368 ; 
Alarm at Manhattan, 369 ; The Eight Men again convoked, 370 ; Application to 
New Haven for Aid, and its Result, 370 ; De Vries' parting Prophecy, 371 ; Let- 
ter of the Eight Men to the West India Company, 371 ; To the States General, 
372 ; Father Jogues at Manhattan, 373 ; Describes its Condition, 374 ; Sails for 
Europe, 374 ; Church at Beverwyck, 374 ; Missionary zeal of Megapolensis, 375 ; 
Mercantile Policy of Patroon of Rensselaersvrj^ck, 376 ; Van der Donck's Con- 
duct, 377 ; Attempts to form a Settlement at Katskill, and is prevented, 378 ; 
John Printz appointed Governor of New Sweden, 378 ; Arrives at Fort Christina, 
and builds Fort New Gottenburg, 379 ; De Vries at the South River, 380 ; Plow- 
den's Claim to New Albion disregarded by Printz and Kieft, 381 ; Lamberton ar- 
rested by Printz, 382 ; Exploring Expedition from Boston to the South River, 
383 ; Failure of the Boston Enterprises, 384 ; The Dutch and the Swedes oppose 
the English on the South River, 385 ; Expeditions sent to Staten Island and 
Greenwich, 386 ; Captain Patrick murdered, 387 ; Expedition against the Weck- 
quaesgeeks, 387 ; Stamford People settle at Heemstede, 387 ; Patent for Heem- 
stede, 388 ; Hostdity of the Indians, and Expedition sent to Heemstede, 389 ; 
Atrocities at Manhattan, 389 ; Soldiers supplied from private Ship at Manhattan, 

390 ; Underhill's Expedition to Stamford, 390, 391 ; Thanksgiving at Manliattan, 

391 ; Peace with West Chester and Long Island Tribes, 392; Fence built at 
Manhattan, 392 ; HostiUty of the River Tribes, 393 ; Bankruptcy of the West 
India Company, 393 ; The Eight Men oppose an Excise, 393 ; Kieft's arbitrary 
Imposition, 394 ; Excise enforced, and the Brewers refuse to pay, 395 ; The Peo- 
ple side with the Brewers, 396 ; Kieft's Misconduct, 396 ; Expedition to the Nortli, 
397; Memorial of the Eight Men to the West India Company, 398-400; Staple 
Right claimed for Rensselaer's Stein, 400 ; Koorn and Loockermans, 401 ; Koorn 
summoned to Manhattan, fined, and protests, 401 ; Father Bressani captured by 
the Mohawks, and ransomed by the Dutch, 402 ; AflTairs of New Netherland con- 
sidered in Holland, 403 ; Provisional Appointment of Van Dincklagen to succeed 
Kieft, 404 ; Report of the Company's Bureau of Accounts, 404-406. 

CHAPTER XII. 
1645—1647. 
End of the Indian War, 407 ; Treaty at Fort Orange, 408 ; General Treaty at Fort 
Amsterdam, 409 ; Condition of New Netherland, 410 ; Lands purchased on Long 
Island, 410; Settlement of Vlissingcn, or Flushing, 410 ; Doughty at Mespath. 
411 ; Lady Moody's Patent for Gravcsande, or Gravesend, 411 ; Mineral Discov- 
eries near Fort Orange and anitmg the Raritans, 413 ; Arendt Corssen sent to 



CONTENTS. 



IX 



Holland, and lost on the Way, 412, 413 ; Action of the West India Company re- 
specting New Netherland, 413 ; Peter Stuyvesant — His early Life, 413 ; Ap- 
pointed Director in Place of Kieft, and Van Dincklagen Vice Director, 414 ; In- 
structions for the Provincial Council, 414, 415; New Arrangements, and Stny- 
vesant's Departure postponed, 416 ; Kieft denies the Right of Appeal to Holland, 
417; Denounced by the People, and reproved by Bogardus, 417; Quarrel be- 
tween the Director and the Domine, 418 ; Restoration of Anne Hutchinson's 
Grand-daughter, 419 ; Van Curler and Van der Donck, 419 ; Death of Kiliaen 
Van Rensselaer, and Appointment of Van Slechtenhorst as Director of Rensse- 
laerswyck, 420 ; Van der Donck's Patent for Colendonck or Yonkers, 421 ; Van 
Slyck's Patent for Katskill, 421 ; Breuckelen incorporated, 422 ; Father Jogues 
visits Andiatarocte, and names it " Lac du Saint Sacrement," 422 ; Murder of 
Jogues by the Mohawks, 423 ; Hudde Commissary on the South River, 424 ; 
Negotiates with Printz, 425 ; Purchases the Site of Philadelphia, 426 ; Discourt- 
eous Conduct of Printz, 427 ; New Haven Trading-post on the Paugussett, 428 ; 
Kieft protests, and negotiates with Eaton, 428 ; With the Commissioners, 429. 
430; Instructions of the West India Company, 431 ; Stuyvesant commissioned as 
Director, and sworn, 432 ; Sails from the Texel, 433 ; Arrives at Manhattan, 433. 

CHAPTER XIII. 

1647—1648. 

Death of Frederick Henry the Stadtholder, 434 ; Treaty of Munster, and General 
Peace of Westphalia, 435 ; The House of Burgundy, 436 ; Great Charter of Hol- 
land, 437 ; Charles V. and Philip II., 437, 438 ; The Reformation in Friesland 
and Holland, 438 ; Action of the Spanish Government, 439 ; Alliance of the No- 
bles, and Origin of the " Gueux," 440 ; Iconoclasts, 441 ; Alva in the Nether- 
lands, 441 ; Council of Blood, and Execution of Egmont and Hoorn, 441 ; Cap- 
ture of the Brielle, 442 ; The People refuse to pay Alva's Taxes, 442 ; Haerlem 
and Alckmaer besieged, 442 ; Defense of Leyden, and Foundation of its Univers- 
ity, 443 ; Pacification of Ghent, 444 ; The Union of Utrecht, 445 ; Dutch Decla- 
ration of Independence, 446 ; The Dutch a self-governing People, 447 ; Their re- 
publican System of Administration, 448 ; The States General, 449 ; Council of 
State, Chamber of Accounts, Stadtholder, and Admiralty, 450 ; The Province of 
Holland, 451 ; Industrial and democratic Spirit of the Dutch, 452 ; Municipal 
Governments of Holland, 453 ; Effects of the Dutch System, 454 ; Doctrine of 
State Rights, 455 ; Social and political Results, 455, 456 ; Prosperity of the 
Dutch, 456 ; Extensive Commerce, 457 ; Free Trade ; Universal Toleration, 458 ; 
Foreigners attracted ; Freedom of the Dutch Press, 459 ; Illustrious Men and 
Artists of the Netherlands, 460 ; Party Spirit ; the Hoeks and Kabbeljaus, 461 ; 
Economy and Frugality; Hospitality and Benevolence, 462 ; Establishment ot 
free Schools, 462; Influence of Women, 463 ; Honesty of the Dutch, 463 ; Thrir 
Firmness and Patriotism, 464. 

CHAPTER XIV. 

1647—1648. 

t uinmencement of Stuyvesant's Administration, 465 ; Organization of his Coun- 
cil, 466 ; Police and Revenue Regulations, 466, 467 ; Church in Fort Amster- 



X CONTENTS. 

dam, 467 ; Domine Backerus succeeds Bogardus, 468 ; Complaints against Kie(t, 
468 ; Dismissed by Stuyvesant, 469 ; Kuyter and Melyn accused by Kieft, 470 ; 
Convicted and sentenced, 471 ; Right of Appeal again denied, 472 ; Shipwreck 
of the Princess, and Death of Kieft, Bogardus, and others, 472 ; Escape of Kuy- 
ter and Melyn, 473 ; Stuyvesant's Concessions to the People, 474 ; The " Nine 
Men," 474 ; Their Duties and Oath of Office, 475 ; Their Action on Stuyvesant's 
first Communication, 476 ; Forrester, Lady Stirling's Agent, arrested and ban- 
ished, 477 ; Correspondence with New England, 478 ; Stuyvesant seizes a Ship 
at New Haven, 479; Eaton's Retaliation, 480; Stuyvesant's Vindication, 481 ; 
Insults of the Swedes on the South River, 482 ; The Savages invite the Dutch 
to build on the Schuylkill, 482 ; Fort Beversrede, 483 ; The Swedes reproved by 
the Savages, 483 ; Campanius returns to Sweden, 484 ; Plowden again at Man- 
hattan, 484 ; Van Dincklagen and La Montagne at the South River, 485 ; Vexa- 
tious Conduct of the Swedes at Passayunk, and Protests of the Dutch, 486 ; Mu 
nicipal Affairs at Manhattan, or New Amsterdam, 487 ; Recommendations of the 
Nine Men ; Residence required ; Scotch Merchants, or Peddlers ; " Kermis," or 
Fair, 489 ; Contraband Trade in Fire-arms, 490 ; Van Slechtenhorst at Rensse- 
laerswyck, 491 ; Stuyvesant visits Fort Orange, 491 ; Soldiers sent there, 492; 
Van Slechtenhorst summoned to Fort Amsterdam, 493 ; Megapolensis and Back- 
erus, 494 ; Popular Discontent at New Amsterdam, 495 ; Delegation to Holland 
proposed by the Nine Men, 495 ; Correspondence with New England, 496 ; Stuy- 
vesant's Explanations of the Dutch territorial Rights, 497. 

CHAPTER XV. 

1649—1651. 

Death of Charles L, 498; Threatened Rupture between England and the Nether- 
lands, 499 ; Death of Winthrop, and Correspondence with New England, 499 ; 
The Dutch and other Foreigners forbidden to trade with the New England Sav- 
ages, 500; Stuyvesant and the Nine Men, 501 ; Proceedings against Van der 
Donck, 502 ; Case of Kuyter and Melyn, 503 ; Memorial of the Nine Men to the 
States General, 504 ; Burgher Government demanded ; Remarks and Observa- 
tions of the Nine Men, 505 ; Vertoogh, or Remonstrance of New Netherland, 
506 ; Delegates sent to Holland, 507 ; Domine Backerus succeeded by Megapo- 
lensis, 508 ; Van Tienhoven sent to Holland as Stuyvesant's Representative, 
509 ; Katskill, Claverack, and Weckquaesgeek, 510 ; Lands purchased on the 
South River, 510, 511 ; The popular Delegates at the Hague, 511 ; Pubhcation 
of the Vertoogh, 512 ; Letter of the West India Company's Chamber at Amster- 
dam, 512 ; Measures to promote Emigration, 513 ; Provisional Order for the 
Government of New Netherland, 514 ; Opposed by the Amsterdam Chamber, 
515 ; Domine Grasmeer, 516 ; Municipal Affairs of New Amsterdam, 517 ; Stuy- 
vesant's Opposition to Reforms, 517; The Director visits Hartford, 518 ; Provis- 
ional Treaty arranged, 519, 520 ; Dissatisfaction of the Commonalty at New Am- 
sterdam, 521 ; Affairs at Rensselaerswyck, 522 ; Van der Donck and Van Tien- 
hoven in Holland, 523 ; Return of Van Tienhoven, 524 ; Melyn on Staten Island. 
525 ; Van Dincklagen and Van Schclluync oppressed, 526 ; Gravesend and Heem- 
stedc support Stuyvesant. 526, 527 ; Expedition from New Haven to the South 
River defeated, 527 ; Van Slechtenhorst arrested at New Amsterdam, 528 ; 



CONTENTS. Xi 

Stuyvesant visits the South River, 529 ; Fort Nassau demolished, and Fort Cas- 
imir built, 529 ; Dyckman appointed Commissary at Fort Orange in Place of Lab- 
batie, 530 ; Proposed Exploration of the Katskill Mountains, 531. 

CHAPTER XVI. 

1652—1653. 

Fiscal Van Dyck superseded, and Van Tienhoven promoted, 533 ; Troubles at Bev- 
erwT^ck, 533 ; Stuyvesant again at Fort Orange, 534 ; Annexation of Beverwyck 
to Fort Orange, 535 ; John Baptist van Rensselaer Director, and Gerrit Swart 
Sellout of Rensselaerswyck, 535 ; Settlement at Atkarkarton, or Esopus, 536 ; 
Middelburg or Newtown, and Midwout or Flatbush, on Long Island, 536 ; Van 
Werckhoven's Purchases on Long Island and New Jersey, 537 ; Domine Dris- 
ius, 537 ; Domine Schaats, 538 ; Opposition of the Amsterdam Chamber to the 
Provisional Order. 539 ; Burgher Government conceded to Manhattan, 540 ; In- 
structions for Schout of New Amsterdam, 541 ; The States General recall Stuy- 
vesant, 541 ; His Recall revoked, 542 ; Proposed Union between England and 
the Netherlands, 542 ; English Act of Navigation, 543 ; Failure of proposed 
Treaty, 544 ; Naval War between the Dutch and English, 545 ; Precautions of 
the States General and the Amsterdam Chamber, 546 ; Maritime Superiority of 
Manhattan predicted, 547 ; Its Condition and Population, 548 ; Organization of 
the municipal Government of the City of New Amsterdam, 548, 549 ; Critical 
Condition of the Province ; Preparations for Defense, 549 ; First City Debt, 550 ; 
State of Feehng in New England ; Charges against the Dutch, 550, 551 ; Agents 
sent to New Netherland, and Preparations for War, 552 ; Conduct of the New 
England Agents, and Propositions of the Dutch, 553 ; Stuyvesant's Reply to the 
Commissioners, 554 ; Substance of the Charges against him, 555 ; Underhill's 
seditious Conduct on Long Island, 556 ; Is banished, and goes to Rhode Island, 
556 ; Massachusetts at Variance with the Commissioners, 557 ; Prevents a War 
with New England, 558 ; Fort Good Hope seized by Underbill, 558 ; Stuyvesant 
sends an Embassy to Virginia, 559 ; Disagrees with the City Authorities of New- 
Amsterdam, 560 ; Return of Van der Donck ; His " Description of New Nether- 
land," 561 ; De Sille appointed Counselor, and Van Ruyven Provincial Secretary, 
561 ; Domine Drisius sent on an Embassy to Virginia, 562 ; Affairs of Rensse- 
laerswyck, 562 ; The Mohawks and the French, 563 ; Father Poncet restored, 
564 ; Temper of the New England Governments, 564, 565 ; Piracies on Long 
Island Sound, 565 ; Libelous Pamphlet pubhshed in London, 566 ; Tlie Bound- 
ary Question in Holland, 567 ; Stuyvesant surrenders the Excise to the City, 568 ; 
Disaffection among the English on Long Island, 568 ; Meeting of Delegates at 
New Amsterdam, 569 ; " Landtdag" or Convention called, 570 ; It meets at New- 
Amsterdam, 571 ; Remonstrance of the Convention, 571 ; Its Character, 572 ; 
Stuyvesant's Reply, 573 ; Rejoinder of the Convention, 574 ; The Convention 
dissolved, 575 ; Letter of Burgomasters and Schepens of New Amsterdam to the 
West India Company, 575 ; Letter from Gravesend, 576 ; Affairs on the South 
River, 576 ; Departure of Printz, 577 ; John Rising appointed Deputy Governoi 
of New Sweden, 577. 



xii CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XVII. 

1654—1655. j 

New Amsterdam Affairs, 578 ; Precautionary Measures, 579 ; Breuckelen, Amers- 
Ibort, and Midwout incorporated, 580 ; Church at Midwout or Flatbush, and Dom- 
ine Polhcmus called, 581 ; Illiberal Treatment of Lutherans at New Amsterdam, 
582 ; Cromwell's Expedition against New Netherland, 582 ; Sequestration of 
Fort Good Hope by Connecticut, 583 ; New Amsterdam put in a State of Defense, 
584 ; Warlike Preparations in New England, 585 ; Treaty of Peace between En- 
gland and Holland, and Countermand of hostile Orders, 586 ; Thanksgiving in 
New Netherland, 587 ; Letters of the Company to Stuyvesant and to the City 
Authorities, 587; Grant of a City Hall and Seal to New Amsterdam, 588 ; Kuy- 
ter murdered, and Van Tienhoven continued as City Schout, 588 ; Ferry at Man- 
hattan regulated, 589 ; War Tax laid ; Excise resumed by Stuyvesant, 590 ; 
Troubles at Beverwyck, 591 ; Father Le Moyne discovers the Salt Springs at 
Onondaga, 592 ; Rising at the South River, 593 ; Captures Fort Casimir, and 
names it Fort Trinity, 593 ; Swedish Ship seized at Manhattan, 594 ; English 
Settlements at West Chester and Oyster Bay, 595 ; Stuyvesant visits Lady 
Moody at Gravesend, 596 ; Delivers Seal and Coat of Arms to Burgomasters at 
New Amsterdam, 596 ; Sails for the West Indies, 597 ; Baxter, Hubbard, and 
Grover at Gravesend, 597 ; Protest against the Settlers at West Chester, 598 ; 
De Decker appointed Commissary at Fort Orange in Place of Dyckman, 599 ; 
Affairs at Gravesend, 599 ; The Boundary Question in Holland, 600 ; Stuyvesant 
ordered to recover Fort Casimir, 601 ; Letter of West India Company to Burgo- 
masters of New Amsterdam, 602 ; Stuyvesant returns from the West Indies, 
603 ; Expedition to the South River, 604 ; Capitulation of the Swedes, 605 ; Es- 
tablishment of the Dutch Power on the South River, 606 ; Indian Invasion oi 
New Amsterdam, 607 ; Hoboken, Pavonia, and Staten Island laid waste ; Eso- 
pus deserted, 607 ; Measures for Defense ; Ransom of Prisoners, 608 ; Jacqnet 
appointed Vice Director on the South River, 609 ; Assistance asked from Hol- 
land, and Precautions against the Savages proposed, 610 ; Stuyvesant prohibits 
New Year and May Day Sports, 611 ; Father Le Moyne at Beverwyck, 611 ; New 
Alliance between the Dutch and the Mohawks, 611 ; Chaumonot and Dablon : 
Jesuit Chapel at Onondaga, 612. 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
1656—1658. 
Proclamation to form Villages, 613 ; Stuyvesant and the Municipal Government of 
New Amsterdam, 613; Religious Affairs in New Netherland, 614-616; Procla- 
mation against unauthorized Conventicles, 617 ; Disapproved by the West India 
Company, 617 ; Expedition sent to West Chester, 618 ; Oostdorp or West Ches- 
ter, and Rustdorp or Jamaica incorporated, 619 ; Baxter escapes to New En- 
gland, 620 ; Swedish Ship seized at the South River, 620 ; Ratification of the Hart- 
ford Treaty by the States General, 621 ; Complaints of the Swedish Government, 
622 ; Van Tienhoven dismissed from public Service, 622 ; Survey and Population 
of New Amsterdam, 623 ; Troubles at Beverwyck about the Excise, 623 ; Van 
Rensselaer fined and ordered to give Bonds, 624 ; New Church at Beverwyck, 024, 



CONTENTS Xiii 

■ 625 ; La Montagne appointed Vice Director at Fort Orange in Place of De Decker, 
625 ; Unsatisfactory Correspondence with New England, 625 ; Lutherans at New 
Amsterdam, and Baptists at Flushing, 626 ; Affairs at Oostdorp, 627 ; Great and 
Small Burgher Right estabUshed at New Amsterdam, 628, 629 ; The West India 
Company conveys Fort Casimir and the adjacent Territor>' to the City of Am- 
sterdam, 630 ; Colony of New Amstel ; Alrichs appointed Director, 630, 631 ; 
Transfer of Fort Casimir, and Organization of Colony of New Amstel, 632 ; Fort 
Christina named Altona, and Jacquet succeeded by Hudde, 633 ; Domine Weliu& 
and Church at New Amstel, 633 ; Cromwell's Letter to the English on Long 
Island, 634 ; Lutheran Clergyman at New Amsterdam, 635 ; The People called 
Quakers, 635 ; Penal Laws of Massachusetts, 635 ; Liberality of Rhode Island, 
636 ; Quakers at New Amsterdam, 636 ; Proclamation against Quakers, 637 ; 
Remonstrance of Flushing, 637; Its Charter modified, 638 ; Persecution of Quak- 
ers, 638, 639 ; Nomination of Magistrates allowed to New Amsterdam, 640 ; For- 
eigners ; Municipal Affairs ; Latin School, 640, 641 ; New Haerlem and Staten 
Island, 641 ; Bergen and Gamoenepa, or Coimnunipa, 642 ; The West India Com- 
pany enjoins religious Moderation, 642, 643 ; Jesuit Mission at Onondaga ; Saint 
Mary's of Genentaha, 644 ; Le Moyne at New .\msterdam, 645 ; Commerce be- 
tween New Netherland and Canada, 646 ; Abandonment of the French Settle- 
ment at Onondaga, 646 ; Outrages of the Indians at Esopus, 647 ; Stuyvesant's 
Conference with the Esopus Savages, 648 ; Vdlage laid out at Esopus, 649 ; Jer- 
emias Van Rensselaer Director of Rensselaerswyck, 649 ; Mohawks at Fort Or- 
ange, 650 ; Dirck Smit Commandant at Esopus, 651 ; Stuyvesant visits Altona, 
651 ; Willem Beeckman appointed Vice Director on the South River, 652 ; Af- 
fairs at New Amstel, 653; Death of Cromwell, and Downfall of the Protector- 
ate, 653. 

CHAPTER XIX. 
1659—1660. 
Territorial Claims of Massachusetts, 654 ; Exploring Party refused a Passage up 
the North River, 655 ; The West India Company allows New Netherland a For- 
eign Trade, 656 ; Curtius Latin Schoolmaster at New Amsterdam, 656 ; Liber- 
ality in Religion enjoined, 656 ; Hermanus Blom caUed to Esopus, 657 ; Fresh 
Troubles with the Savages, 658 ; Delegation from Beverwyck to the Mohawks 
at Caughnawaga, 659 ; Expedition from New Amsterdam to Esopus, 660 ; Affairs 
at New Amstel, 661 ; Copper Mine at Minnisinck, 662 ; Beeckman purchases 
near Cape Hinlopen, 663 ; Designs of the Maryland Government, 663 ; Utie at 
New Amstel, 664 ; Conference with the Dutch Officers, 665 ; Heerman's and 
Waldron's Embassy to Maryland, 666 ; Negotiations with Governor Fendall, 
667-669 ; Death of Domine Welius and of Director Alrichs, 670 ; Southampton, 
Easthampton, Huntington, and Setauket, on Long Island, 671 ; Letter of Com- 
missioners to Stuyvesant in favor of the Massachusetts Claim, 672 ; Stuyvesant's 
Reply, 673 ; His Dispatches to the Company, 674 ; Tonneman Schout of New 
Amsterdam ; Second Survey of the City, 674 ; New Haerlem incorporated, 674 ; 
Treaty with the Long Island and other Indians, 675 ; War against the Esopus 
Savages, 676 ; Stuyvesant refuses to organize a Court at Esopus, 677 ; Opposes 
the Employment of the Mohawks, 677 ; Conference and Treaty with the Esopus 
Indians, 678; " Bosch-loopers" at Fort Orange, 679; Stuyvesant's Conference 



Xiv CONTENTS. 

with the Senecas, 679 ; Domine Blom settled at Esopus, 680 ; Domine Selyns ..t 
Breuckelen and the Director's Bouwery, 680, 681 ; Lutherans at Beverwyck, 
681 ; Hinoyossa succeeds Alrichs at New Amstel, 682; Treaty between New 
Netherland and Virginia, 683 ; Sir Henry Moody's Embassy to Manhattan, 683 ; j 
Berkeley's Correspondence with Stuyvesant, 684 ; Restoration of Charles II., 
684 ; Lord Baltimore and the West India Company, 685 ; The Company's Me- 
morial to the States General, 686 ; English Council for Foreign Plantations, 686. 

CHAPTER XX. 
1661—1664. 
English Jealousy of the Dutch, 687 ; Liberal Conditions offered by the West India 
Company to EngUsh Emigrants to New Netherland, 688 ; Stuyvesant again per- 
secutes Quakers, 689 ; Charter of Wiltwyck, or Wildwyck, at Esopus ; Roelof 
Swartwout Schout, 690; Purchase of " Schonowe," or Schenectady Flats, 691 ; 
Bergen incorporated; Tielman van Vleeck Schout, 691, 692; Staten Island; 
Domine Drisius preaches there in French, 692 ; New Utrecht and Boswyck, or 
Bushwick, incorporated, 693 ; The " Five Dutch Towns," 693 ; Affairs at New 
Amsterdam ; a Mint contemplated ; Curtius succeeded by Luyck ; Reputation of 
the Latin School, 694 ; Salt-works on Coney Island, 694 ; Connecticut petitions 
the King for a Charter, 695 ; Winthrop sails from New Amsterdam, 695 ; Pro- 
posed Puritan Settlement in New Netherland ; Stuyvesant's Concessions, 696 ; 
Calvert on the South River, 697 ; Mennonists propose to colonize the Horekill, 
698 ; Singular Articles of Association, 698, 699 ; Plockhoy, their Leader, 699 ; 
Beeckman and Hinoyossa, 699 ; Sir George Downing, the British Ambassador at 
the Hague, 700 ; Lord Baltimore's and Lord Stirling's Claims, 701 ; Convention 
between the United Provinces and Great Britain, 701 ; Berkeley and Winthrop 
in London ; Royal Charter for Connecticut, 702 ; Encroaching Claims of the Con- 
necticut Court, 703 ; West Chester and Long Island Towns annexed, 703 ; Le 
Moyne again among the Iroquois, 704 ; The Mohawks on the Kennebeck, 704 ; 
Governor Breedon's Complaints, and Stuyvesant's Interposition, 704 ; Tracy 
Viceroy of Canada, 705 ; Progress of Quakerism on Long Island, 705 ; Banish- 
ment of Bowne, 706; The West India Company enjoins Toleration, and Perse- 
cution ceases, 707 ; Terms offered to Puritans desiring to settle themselves on 
the Raritan, 708 ; Connecticut enforces its Claims of Jurisdiction, 709 ; Earth- 
quake, 709 ; Small-pox at Beverwyck, and non-intercourse Regulations of Con- 
necticut, 710 ; New Village at Esopus ; " Ronduit" on the Kill, 710 ; Wiltwyck 
surprised by the Savages, 711 ; Expedition sent from New Amsterdam, 712 ; In- 
vasion of the Esopus Country, and Destruction of Indian Forts on the Shawan- 
gunk Kill, 712, 713 ; Party sent to the Sager's Kill, 713, 714 ; The South River 
ceded to the City of Amsterdam, 714-716 ; Calvert at New Amstel and Altona, 
717; Hinoyossa and Beeckman, 717; Stuyvesant visits Boston, and negotiates 
with the Commissioners, 718 ; Difficulties on Long Island, 719 ; Dutch Commis- 
sioners sent to Hartford, 720 ; Unsatisfactory Negotiation, 721 ; Act of Connecti- 
cut respecting the West Chester and Long Island Towns, 722 ; Convention called 
at New Amsterdam, 722 ; Remonstrance to the West India Company, 723 ; Names 
of English Villages on Long Island changed, 723; Stuyvesant surrenders them 
and West Chester to Connecticut, 723 ; English Party on the Raritan ; Purchase 
of the Nevesinck Lands, 724 ; Baxter and Scott in London, 725 ; Scott on Long 



CONTENTS. XV 

Island, 726 ; Combination of English Villages ; Scott chosen President, 726 ; Con 
ditional Arrangement at Jamaica, 727 ; Agreement between Stuyvesant and Scott, 
728 ; General Provincial Assembly at New Amsterdam, 729 ; Charter of the West 
India Company explained and confirmed by the States General, 730 ; Letters to 
the Towns, 730 ; Arrival of Huguenots, 730 ; Treaty of Peace with the Esopus 
Savages, 731 ; Beeckman Commissary at Esopus, 732 ; Settlement at Schaen- 
hechstede, or Schenectady, 732 ; The Mohawks and the Abenaquis, 732 ; Ravages 
of the Mahicans, and Alarm at Fort Orange, 733 ; Winthrop's Proceedings on 
Long Island, 734 ; Stuyvesant still hopeful, 734 ; Royal Patent to the Duke of 
York and Albany, 735 ; Royal Commissioners, 736 ; Colonel Richard Nicolls dis- 
patched with a Squadron to surprise New Netherland, 736 ; Grant of New Jersey, 
736 ; Preparations to defend New Amsterdam, 736 ; Stuyvesant goes to Fort Or- 
ange, 737 ; Royal Commissioners at Boston, 737 ; Squadron anchors in Nyack 
Bay, 738; Manhattan sunmioned to surrender, 739 ; Stuyvesant tears Nicolls's 
Letter, 739 ; Ships anchor before Fort Amsterdam, 740 ; Condition of the City, 
741 ; Capitulation agreed to, 742 ; Surrender of New Amsterdam, 742 ; Nicolls pro- 
claimed Governor; his opinion of the City called "New York," 743 ; Surrender 
of Fort Orange ; named Fort Albany, 744 ; Reduction of the South River, 744 ; 
New York, Albania, and Yorkshire named, 745 ; Review ; Character and Influ- 
ence of the Founders of New York, 745-750. 



APPENDIX. 

Note A Page 751 

Note B 752 

Note C 753 

Note D 753 

Note E 754 

Note F 755 

Note G 755 

Note H 756 

Note 1 757 

Note K 758 

Note L 758 

Note M 759 

Note N 760 

Note 760 

Note P 760 

Note Q 761 

N ote R 76 1 

Xote S 762 

General Index 765 



HISTORY 

OF THE 

STATE OF NEW YORK. 

CHAPTER I. 

In the beginning of the seventeenth century, moment- chap. i. 
ous events, which had been agitating Europe, led the way " ~ 
to the permanent colonization of the northern regions of »'<>" 
America. The art of printing had gradually diffused the 
learning of the cloister through the marts of commerce ; 
a venerable but abused faith no longer shackled emanci- 
pated mind ; a recent inductive philosophy was teaching 
mankind to seek the fruits of careful experiment ; and an 
irrepressible spirit of adventure, growing with the prog- 
ress of knowledge, prompted enterprise in the New World 
which the genius of Columbus had given to the Old. 

The immortal Genoese, who, in those late years fore- 1492. 
told at Rome, had verified the sublime prophecy of Sene- 
ca, and made the ocean reveal the long-mysterious earth 
beyond the furthest Tliule, had worked out his grand dem- 
onstration in the service of Spain. By her the splendid 
prize was claimed. But Portugal, having already ex- 
plored the Azores, boldly asserted a superior right. The 
question was referred to the Pope ; and Alexander the Papai dona- 

. . tion of the 

Sixth decided that the sovereigns of Spain should hold, New worid 

1 111 i'" Spain. 

as a gift in perpetuity, all the heathen lands found or 1493. 
to be discovered to the west of a meridian, one hundred *^^ ***>' 
leagues westward of the Azores.. The apostolic decree did 



2 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. I. not Satisfy Portugal ; and it was agreed that the line of 
partition should be advanced two hundred and seventy 
leagues further to the west. Still, nearly all the New 
World remained actually included in the papal donation 
to Spain.* 

But the Pontiff's sweeping grant was not universally 
respected. Leaving Spain and Portugal to push their con- 
Engiish quests in the rich and sultry regions of the south, England 
discoveries, and Francc commenced an early rivalry in exploring the 
rugged and picturesque territories of the north. Disre- 
garding the edict of the Vatican, almost simultaneously 
they began their grand career of transatlantic enterprise. 
Cabot. While the Cabots, under commissions of Henry the Sev- 
enth, after discovering Newfoundland, sailed along the 
1497-8, continent, from Labrador to the parallel of Gibraltar, and, 
1517. in a succeeding reign, perhaps entered the Arctic Seaa 
westward of Greenland, the fishermen of Normandy visit- 
1504. ed Cape Breton, and made rude charts of the great gulf 
1506. within ; and Verazzano, under a commission of Francis 
verazzano. ^I^g First, coasting uortliward from the Carolinas, explored, 
1524. with his boat, the "most beautiful" Bay of New York,i 
and anchored awhile in the "very excellent harbor" of 
Newport. But, though plans of colonization were sug- 
gested in England and France, permanent occupation was 

* Hazard's Ili.storical Collections, i., 3-6 ; Chalmers's Political Annals, 10 ; llcrrera, 
i., 2, 10; Irving's Columbus, i., 185-200; Prescott's Ferd. and Isab., ii., 116, 174, 181 ; 
Tliorne, in Ilakluyt's " Divers Voyages," &c., 43-47, reprinted by the llakluyt Society 
of London, 1850. 

t Verazzano thus describes the Narrows, and the Bay of New York : " After proceed- 
ing one hundred leagues, we found a very pleasant situation among some steep hills, 
through which a very large river, deep at its mouth, forced its way to the sea. From thii 
sea to tlie estuary of the river, any ship heavily laden might pass, with the help of iho 
tide, which rises eight feet. But as we were riding at anchor in a good berth, we would 
not venture up in our vessel, without a knowledge of the mouth ; therefore we took tho 
boat, and entering the river, we found the country on its banks well peopled, the inhab- 
itants not difl'ering much from the others, being dressed out with the feathers of birds of 
various colors. They came toward us with evident delight, raising loud shouts of admi- 
ration, and showing us where we could most securely land with our boat. We passed 
up this river about half a league, when we found it formed a most beautiful lake, three 
leagues in circuit, upon which they were rowing thirty or more of their small boats, from 
one shore to the other, filled with multitudes who came to see us. All of a sudden, as is 
wont to happen to navigators, a violent contrary wind blew in from the sea, and forced u^ 
to return to our ship, greatly regretting to leave this region, which seemed so commodious 
and delightful, and which we supposed must also contain great riches, as the hills showed 
many indications of minerals."— Letter to King Francis I., of July 8, 1524, translated by 
Mr. Cogswell, in N. Y. H. S. Coll., i. (second series), 45, 46. 



THE FRENCH IN CANADA. 3 

delayed. Not a solitary emigrant established his home chap. i. 
along all the indented line of coast.* 

Jacques Cartier, an experienced mariner of Saint Malo, canier in 
following, a few years after Verazzano's adventurous voy- 
age, discovered the mouth of the " Crreat River of Cana- 1534. 
da." The next year, returning with three well-fitted ves- 
sels, Cartier passed westward of Newfoundland on the 
festival of Saint Lawrence, and, in honor of the martyr, 153o. 
gave his name to the noble gulf which stretched beyond. '" ^"eust 
Pursuing his way up the great river, and holding friendly 
intercourse with the Hurons and Algonquins along its 
banks, the enterprising explorer visited the island of 
Hochelaga, the fertile hill on which, he named " Mont 3 October. 
Real." After wintering his ships in the little river just 
north of the present city of Quebec, Cartier solemnly erect- 1536. 
ed a cross, and, claiming the surrounding regions as the ^ ^^^' 
rightful possessions of his sovereign king, Francis I., set 
sail once more for Saint Malo. 

Cartier's reports on his return to France, though they 
did not arouse a general spirit of enterprise among his 
countrymen, stimulated Francois de la Roque, lord of Ro- Robcrvai. 
berval, a nobleman of Picardy, to obtain from the king a 1540. 
patent as viceroy over the newly-discovered French ter- ^^-"^""^i- 
ritories on the Saint Lawrence. With Roberval was as- 
sociated Cartier, as captain and pilot-in-chief. Return- ly October. 
ing to the Saint Lawrence, Cartier built a rude fort, not 
far from the site of Quebec, and thus gave to his country 
the pre-eminence of having erected the first European post 1541. 

* Hazard, i., 9, 10 ; Chalmers, 4, 7, 8 ; Holmes's Annals, i., 13-54 ; Bancroft, i., 8-17, 
75,76; Biddle'.s "Memoir of Cabot ;" C. Robinson'.s "Voyages to America;" Hakluyt's 
" Divers Voyages." In 1501, Cortereal, a Portuguese, visited Newfoundland and Labra- 
dor, but his voyages produced no practical results. Vcra7.7ano's Letter to King Francis 
I., of July 8, 1524, giving an account of his discoveries, is the earliest original description 
now extant, of the Atlantic coa.st of the T/nited States. Translations of that letter are in 
N. Y. II. S. Collections, i., 45-00 (from Ramusio), and in i. (second series), 39-G7 (from the 
Magliabecchian MSS.). In the llakluyt Society's reprint of " Hakluyt's Divers Voyages," 
the translation of Veraz/.ano's letter (from Ramusio) is accompanied by a fac-simile of the 
rare map which Michael Lock, of London, made and dedicated to Sir Philip Sydney, in 
\aSi. This map, it appears, was constructed partly from "an old e.xccllent mappe," 
which Vcrazzano himself had given to King Henry VIH., and which, when llakluyt pub- 
lished his work (in 1582), was "yet in the custodie of Master Locke." The name by 
which the New World is now unworthily known, was not, at the time of Verazzano's 
voyage, applied to the Northern Continent ; at all events. Verazzano does not use the 
term " America" in his letter. 



4 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. I. in the northern territory of America. But divided author- 
ity frustrated the discordant enterprise ; and, for a long 
'^' generation, no further American discoveries were prose- 
cuted by the subjects of France.* 

Frobisiier's Forty ycars after Cartier first ascended the Saint Law- 
rence, Martin Frobisher, "one of the boldest men who ever 
ventured upon the ocean," encouraged by the favor of Eliz- 
abeth to search for a northwest passage to China, made his 
1576. way to a group of islands off the coast of Labrador. A 
few stones brought back to London, from the desolate 
abode of the Esquimaux, were supposed to contain gold ; 

1577-8. and new expeditions were sent to the imaginary Dorado. 

But Frobisher's voyages were all unsuccessful. While 

credulous avarice was signally disappointed, the coasts of 

North America remained unexplored by the English.! 

With more definite purpose, and with sounder views, 

patenf^ Sir Humphrey Grilbert, a knight of Devonshire, obtained 
1578. a royal patent, authorizing him to discover and occupy 

iijune. ^j^y j-ernote, heathen, and barbarous lands, "not actually 
possessed of any Christian prince or people." Gilbert's 
purpose was to begin that actual occupation of American 
territory which England had entirely neglected during the 
eighty years that followed the voyage of Cabot. The pat- 
ent gave Grilbert abundant powers ; but various obstacles 
postponed the execution of his design.^ Meanwhile, Eliz- 
abeth was stoutly denying the exclusive pretensions of 
1580. Spain to the New World, in virtue of first visitation, and 
of the Pope's donation, and was distinctly affirming the 

.v4'sioii^°he principle that discovery and prescription, unless accom- 

^\nm\m. panied by possession, are of no avail.§ Thus the Queen 

* Hakluyt, iii., 250-297 ; Hazard, i., 19-21 ; Chalmers, 81, 82 ; Bancroft, i., 19-24. 

t Hakluyt, iii., 29-.'i2, 47-129 ; Purchas, v., 811 ; Bancroft, i., 81-(;6 ; Rundall's Narra- 
tives, &c., 9-34, published by the Hakluyt Society, 1849. 

t Hazard, i., 24-2H ; Bancroft, i., 88, 89. 

4 " PriEterea illam non intelligcre, cur sui ct aliorum Priuciinim .subditi ab Indiis pro- 
hibeantur, quas Hispanici juris esse persuaderc sibi non posset ex Ponlificis Romani do- 
natione, in quo priBro(,'ativam in ejusmodi caussis agnovit nuUam, nedum auctoritatcm ut 
Principes obligaret, qui nuUani ei obedientiam debent ; aut Ili.spanum novn illo orbe quasi 
mfeudaret, et iiossessione inve.stirct. Nee alio quopiam jure quam quod Hispani hinc illinc 
appulerint, casulas posuerint, lluinen aut Promontorium denominavcrint, qus proprietateni 
acquirere non possunt. Ut hiee rei aliens; donatio (juw ex jure nihili est, et imaginaria hsec 
proprietas obstare non debeat, quo minus celeri Principes commercia in illis regionibus 
exerceant, et colonias ubi Hispani non incolunt, jure gentium nequaquain violate, dedu- 



THE ENGLISH IN VIRGINIA. 5 

of England, while she refused to recognize the double chap. i. 
Spanish title by exploration and investiture, at the same 
time virtually renounced any English claim founded sole- 
ly upon Cabot's voyage. 

After a few year's delay, Grilbert, aided by the resources 
of his half-brother, Sir Walter Raleigh, equipped an ex- Gubcn at 
pedition, and sailed directly to Newfoundland, where, for land. 
the first time, he set up the arms of England and pro- 1583. 
claimed the queen. On his return voyage, the intrepid '^ ^"S"*'*- 
adventurer perished at sea. But the English right to the 9 septemb. 
island " first seen" by Cabot, was now formally published 
to the world " by the voice of a herald."* 

The untimely fate of his kinsman did not dishearten 
Raleigh, who readily procured from Elizabeth, whose fa- ^^f^^ jf^J'ent 
vorite he had become, a new patent to discover and occu- 
py any remote, heathen, and barbarous lands, "not act- 1584. 
ually possessed of any Christian prince, nor inhabited by ^"' '^*'"'='*- 
Christian people." Up to this time the English had lim- 
ited their views to the bleak regions near the fisheries at 
the mouth of the Saint Lawrence. Raleigh's enterprise 
was now directed to a more genial climate. Two vessels 
were soon dispatched toward Florida, under the com- 27 April. 
mand of Philip Amidas and Arthur Barlow. Sailing by 
the circuitous route of the Canaries and the West Indies, 
they safely reached the island of Wocockon, at the Ocra- 
coke inlet, in North Carolina, where they took formal pos- 13 July. 
session of the country in behalf of their sovereign. On 
their return to England, the adventurers made such glow- 
ing reports of the regions they had visited, that Elizabeth 
irave to the wilderness the name of Virginia, to commem- '^''■ginia 

o ' named. 

orate its occupation in the reign of a maiden queen. t 

But the time for permanent English settlements beyond coioni/.a- 
the Atlantic had not yet fully come. Ihe colonists whom tempted, 
Raleigh sent to the island of Roanoke in 1585, under 1585. 

cant, quum praescriptio sine possessione haud valeat." — Camden, Rerum Ang. et Hib. Reg. 
Eli/.. Annales, 1580, edit. Hearne, 1717, p. 360 

* "Regionem illam [Newfoundland] Anglici juris esse, voce prsBconis publicasset." 
—Camden, Annales Eliz., 1583, p. 402 ; Hakluyt, i., 679-699, iii., 143-166 ; Purchas, iii., 
608 ; Hazard, i., 32 ; Bancroft, i., 90, 91. 

t Hazard, i., 33-38 ; Hakluyt, iii., 246-251 ; Bancroft, i., 92-95; Chalmers, 4, 9. 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



Chap. I. 



1587. 



1590. 



and aban- 
doned. 



1603. 



1618. 

Raleigh's 
fate. 



1792. 



Gosnold's 
voyage. 



1602. 

26 March. 



Grrenville and Lane, returned the next year, dispirited, to 
■ England. A second expedition, dispatched in 1587, un- 
der John White, to found " the borough of Raleigh, in 
Virginia," stopped short of the unexplored Chesapeake, 
whither it was bound, and once more occupied Roanoke. 
In 1590, the unfortunate emigrants had wholly disappear- 
ed ; and, with their extinction, all immediate attempts to 
establish an English colony in Virginia were abandoned.* 
Its name alone survived. After impoverishing himself in 
unsuccessful efforts to add an effective American planta- 
tion to his native kingdom, the magnanimous patriot was 
consigned, under an unjust judgment, to a lingering im- 
prisonment in the Tower of London ; to be followed, after 
the lapse of fifteen years, by a still more iniquitous exe- 
cution. Yet, returning justice has fully vindicated Ra- 
leigh's fame ; and nearly two centuries after his death, 
the State of North Carolina gratefully named its capital 
after that extraordinary man, " who united in himself as 
many kinds of glory as were ever combined in an indi- 
vidual."t 

The reign of Elizabeth did not terminate before anoth- 
er step had been taken in the path of American adventure. 
Shakspeare's liberal-minded patron, the Earl of South- 
ampton, "having well weighed the greatness and good- 
ness of the cause," contributed largely to fit out a vessel 
under the command of Captain Bartholomew Gosnold and 
Captain Bartholomew G^ilbert, to discover a "convenient 
place for a new colony" to be sent to North America. 
Early in 1602, Gosnold sailed from Falmouth in a Dart- 
mouth bark, named the Concord, " holding a course for 
the north part of Virginia." Rejecting the usual circui- 
tous route by the Canaries and the West Indies, Grosnold, 
after being driven by an unfavorable wind " as far south- 
ward as the Azores," boldly steered his small vessel di- 

* Hazard, i., 3»-45 : Ihikluyt, iii., 251-265, 280-295 ; Chalmers, r>\i, 515 ; Uancroa, i.. 
95-108. The attention of Europe was attracted, in 1590, to the characteristics of the North 
American savages, by the beautiful plates with which Theodoras de Bry, of Frankfort, 
illustrated his collections of " Voyages." These were engraved from the sketches made, 
under Raleigh's direction, by the draughtsman Wythe, who accompanied Lane in 1585. 

t Bancroft, i.. 111. 



GOSNOLD AT CAPE COD. 7 

rectly across the Atlantic, by which he made the voyage chap. i. 
"shorter than heretofore by five hundred leasmes."* In ~ 
seven weeks the Concord safely made the land, about the ^_^ j^^^ ' 
latitude of 43°, in the neighborhood of Portsmouth, New 
Hampshire. Here the adventurers were visited by several 
Indians in a French-built shallop, with "mast and sail, 
iron grapples, and kettles of copper." From their explana- 
tions, it appeared that some French vessels from the Basque 
Provinces " had fished and traded at this place." But 
seeing no good harbor, (iosnold stood again to sea south- 
wardly, and soon " found himself imbayed with a mighty 
headland." Here he went ashore in his shallop, while his 
men, during the six hours he was absent, caught so many 
" excellent codfish, that they were compelled to throw 
numbers of them overboard again." Naming this head- 
land " Cape Cod" — a designation which it has ever since cape cod 

1/^11 11 lie 1 iliscovered 

retained — Cxosnold coasted to the southward as far as the and named 
mouth of Buzzard's Bay, where he prepared to plant a 
colony on the westernmost island, which was called " Eliz- 28 May. 
abeth," in honor of the queen. Three weeks were spent 
in building a house, where G-osnold proposed to remain 
during the winter, with eleven of his men, and mean- 
while send the Concord home, in charge of Gilbert, " for 
new and better preparations." But his men, filled with 
" a covetous conceit of the unlooked-for merchandise" 
which had rewarded their traffic with the Indians, " would 
not by any means be treated with to tarry behind the 
ship;" and Gosnold returned to England, after an absence 
of five months, with the most favorable reports of "theasjuiy. 
benefit of a plantation in those parts. "t 

Elizabeth's timid successor now sat on the throne of 1603. 
Great Britain. At the time of James's accession, Spain Ap^Mfon 
was the only European nation that possessed any fixed ""^ ■'^'"*' "" 
settlements in all the northern continent to which Colum- 



* Smith's Hist, of Virginia, i., 105. 

t "History of Travail into Virginia Britannia," by William Strachey, 153-158; Pur- 
clias, iv., 1647; Smith's Hist, of Virginia, i., 105-108. Strachey's interesting work haa 
just been published (1850) for the first time, from the original MS. in the British Museum, 
by the Hakluyt Society 



S HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. I. bus had led the way, more than a century before. South 

of the Saint Lawrence, not a foot of American territory 

had yet been permanently occupied by England or France. 
But the time was now near at hand when these rival na- 
tions were to commence a long-enduring struggle for ul- 
timate dominion over vast regions far across the sea. Ra- 
leigh's enterprises, and G-osnold's successful voyage, had 
given a strong impulse to the national spirit of Grreat 
Britain ; for the development of which the anticipated 
termination of hostilities with Spain, in consequence of 
James's accession to the throne, was soon to offer the most 
favorable opportunities. The south of England already 
felt the pressure of a redundant population ; and English 
adventurers foresaw that they would no longer be allow- 
ed to despoil, at pleasure, their enemies' rich West India 
possessions. Enterprise must soon pursue more honest 
paths, and commerce and colonization must supplant pi- 
racy and rapine. The thoughts of the intelligent were 
naturally turned toward the North American Continent, 
where, between Mexico and Florida and the mouth of the 
Saint Lawrence, not a solitary European family was yet 
established. Among the foremost of these intelligent men, 
and the one to whom " England is more indebted for its 
American possessions than to any man of that age,"* was 
Richard thc distinguished historian of maritime enterprise, Richard 

Hakluytthe » • i 

iiistorian. Hakluyt, a prebendary of Saint Augustine's at Bristol, and 
afterward of Saint Peter's at Westminster. Influenced by 
his enlightened zeal, some Bristol merchants fitted out two 
small vessels, manned with experienced crews, several of 
whom had accompanied Gosnold the year before ; and, a 

10 Apru. few days after the death of the queen, dispatched them 

r^age. from Milford Haven, under the command of Martin Pring, 
to explore the northern coasts of Virginia. Falling in with 
the land near Penobscot Bay, Pring coasted southerly along 
the mouths of the Kennebeck, Saco, and Piscataqua, un- 
til he reached thc waters of Massachusetts Bay. After 

2 October, an absencc of six months, he returned to England, with 

* Robertson, ix. 



WEYMOUTH IN MAINE. 9 

a valuable cargo of sassafras, and a birch bark canoe, as a chap. i. 
specimen of the ingenuity of the native savages.* 

Pring's voyage stimulated afresh the aw^akened enter- 
prise of England. James had, meanwhile, signalized his 
accession to the British throne by declaring himself at i'eace wau 

•'. ^ Spain. 

peace " with all the princes of Christendom," and by re- 2^ June, 
calling all letters of marque and reprisal against the Span- 
iards.! This step was followed the next year by a formal 
treaty with Spain, which by degrees repressed the preda- 1604. 
tory expeditions that English mariners had so long carried " " ** 
on against the American possessions of their recent foes. 
The northern voyage across the Atlantic was now divested 
of its terrors, and experience had abundantly demonstrated 
its advantages over the more circuitous route by the West 
Indies. The liberal Earl of Southampton, " concurrent 
the second time in a new survey and dispatch," in concert wey- 
with his brother-in-law, Lord Arundel, of Wardour, fitted voyage. 
out a ship, in which Captain G-eorge Weymouth was dis- 
patched from the Downs to visit the coast of Maine. In KjOo. 
six weeks Weymouth found himself near the shoals of Nan- ^^ '^'•"■(•h 
tucket; whence, running northward about fifty leagues, jsMay. 
ho landed upon an island between the Penobscot and the 
Kennebeck, which he named Saint George. Pursuing 
" his search sixty miles up the most excellent and bene- 
ficial river of Sacadehoc," which he found " capable of 
shipping for traffic of the greatest burden," Weymouth 
set up a cross, and took possession in the name of the king. 
After four months absence, Weymouth returned to En-isJ'iiy 
gland, bringing with him five native savages, whom he 
had decoyed on board his ship. Three of these were im- 
mediately "seized upon" by Sir Ferdinando G-orges, the 
governor of Plymouth, who afterward declared that " this 
accident must be acknowledged the means, under God, 
of putting on foot and giving life to all our plantations."^ 

* Purchas, iv., 1654. t Rymer, Fcdcra, xvi., 516, 

t Sir F. Gorges, " Brief Narration," <fec., in Mass. Hist. Coll., xxvi., 50, 51 ; xxviii., 
129-157 ; StracUey, 159 ; Purchas, iv., 1659 ; Smith, i., 109 ; Prince, 109. Some of our his- 
torians have supposed that Weymouth ascended the Penobscot. But Strachcy's author- 
ity seems to be con';Iusive in favor of the Sagadahoc or Kennebeck. 



10 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. I. Upoii Wcyiiiouth's retum to England, " his goodly re- 
port joining with Captain Gosnold's," and being confirm- 
A new vir- ^^ ^J *^® ECCQunts givBH by the native Indians he Jiad 
fer profea- brought over, kindled the ambition of " many firm and 
"*^' hearty" British adventurers to colonize domains in the New 

World. Next to Richard Hakluyt, the most prominent 
among these master spirits of an enterprising age were Sir 
John Pophara, the chief justice of England, and Sir Fer- 
dinando Gorges, the governor of Plymouth. Raleigh was 
now lying attamted in the Tower, and his Virginia patent 
had been forfeited. But since the grant of Raleigh's pat- 
ent, extensive discoveries had been made far to the north- 
ward ; and within the limits of these new discoveries it 
was proposed that English emigrants should now be set- 
tled, simultaneously with a renewed attempt to colonize 
Virginia. To accomplish these purposes, a royal charter 
was thought necessary ; and all questions of rivalry, it was 
supposed, could best be avoided by combining both objects 
in the same instrument. The moment seemed favorable, 
and was improved. The world was aroused. A mighty 
intellectual revolution was just beginning ; the era of suc- 
cessful American colonization had come. About the very 
time that Bacon was putting forth his noble treatise on the 
" Advancement of Learning," some of the most influential 
men of England, including Hakluyt the historian, Popham, 
the chief justice, Grorges, Somers, Gates, and Smith, went 
to the king, and besought him to encourage an undertak- 
ing whereby " G-od might be abundantly made known, his 
name enlarged and honored, a notable nation made fortu- 
nate," and themselves famous.* 

Obeying England's sublime destiny, to " make new na- 
tions" — 

" Wherever the bright sun of heaven shall shine — "t 

1606. James I. readily granted a new and ample charter for the 

Charter" colonizatiou of " that part of America commonly called 

kToT*^ ^^ Virginia, and other parts and territories in America either 

James. appertaining unto us, or which are not now actually pos- 

♦ Strachey, IGl ; Gorges, " Brief Narration," 53. f Cranmer in Henry VIII., Act V. 



KING JAMES'S PATENT OF 1606. H 

sessed by any Christian prince or people," between the chap. i. 
thirty-fourth and the forty-fifth degrees of latitude. The 
grant included all the North American coast from Capo 
Fear to Nova Scotia. Two separate companies were 
named as grantees of the patent. To the first of these, 
composed of Gates, Somers, Hakluyt, and Wingfield, with 
their associated adventurers residing at London, was grant- If^*^"" 
ed the privilege of occupying and governing a space of one 
hundred miles along the coast, in any part of the country 
between the thirty-fourth and the forty-first degrees. The 
second company, whose leading members, Hanham, (3^il- 
bert, Parker, and George Popham, with their associates, 
lived in and near Plymouth and Bristol, the chief com- Plymouth 
mercial towns in the west of England — for Liverpool was 
then only an inconsiderable village, and the northern coun- 
ties almost entirely pastoral — was invested with similar 
privileges for any part of the territory between the thirty- 
eighth and the forty-fifth degrees of latitude. Thus the 
whole of the region between the thirty-eighth and the for- 
ty-first degrees — from the sea-coast of Maryland to Mon- 
tauk Point — was, by the terms of James's patent, nomin- 
ally open to colonization by either company. Yet, to pre- 
vent collision, the charter expressly provided that the col- 
ony which should be planted last should not approach its 
boundary within one hundred miles of that of the prior 
establishment.* But at the time the patent was sealed, 
no English navigator had searched the American coast 
further south than Buzzard's Bay, nor further north than 
Roanoke. The almost unknown intermediate region was 
entirely unoccupied by Europeans ; the Chesapeake itself 
was yet unexplored, nor had its Capes been discovered or 
named.! 

The summer passed away m preparations, on the part of 
the patentees of the Southern or London Company, to or- Ji'^Lon- 
ganize an expedition to Virginia ; and, on the part of theP""y^cnds 
pedantic king, in drawing up a code of laws for the colony. Virginia- 

* See charter at length in Hazard, i., 51-58 ; Chalmers, 13 ; Bancroft, i., 117-121. 
t De Bry ; Ilakluyt, iii., 255; Smith, i., 151 ; 0. Robinson's "Voyages to America," 
483, 484. Cabot's and Verazzano's discoveries have already been considered. 



12 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap I. Late in the winter, a little squadron of three ships sailed 

from England, under the command of Christopher New- 

19 Dec. po^'t J ^^^5 following the old roundabout route by the Can- 

1607. aries and West Indies, it arrived safely, the next spring 

""^ ■ within the Chesapeake Bay. The headlands at the mouth 

of this bay were immediately named Cape Henry and Cape 

Charles, in honor of the two sons of King James. A few 

days afterward, the colony of Virginia — the " Old Domin- 

jamestown jon" of the United States — was founded at Jamestown : 

rounded. ' 

13 May. Q-ud, during the two following years, Captain John Smith, 

" the adventurer of rare genius and undying fame," un- 
remittingly exerted the most strenuous eftbrts to sustain, 
amid constant discouragements, an enterprise which, but 
for his sagacity and devotion, must soon have utterly and 
disgracefully failed.^ 
mouth'^ The simultaneous attempt of Chief-justice Popham, Sir 

at'the Ken- Ferdiuaudo Gorges, and other members of the Plymouth 
nebeck. qj. Northern Company, to establish a colony upon the Sag- 
adahoc or Kennebeck, which Weymouth had visited in 
1605, was unsuccessful. Soon after the charter was seal- 
ed, Gorges and some others of the Plymouth Company 
1606. sent out a ship under the command of Captain Henry 
!2 August, ci^allons, to make further discoveries on the coast of 
Maine. But instead of taking the northern course, accord- 
rhaiions, [ncr to his ordcrs, Challons sailed by way of the West In- 

llanham, . ^ . 

and Pring. Jies, wlicrc lic was capturcd by a Spanish fleet and carried 
into Spain. Meanwhile, Chief-justice Popham had dis- 
patched another ship, under the command of Captains 
Thomas Hanham and Martin Pring, to join Challons on 
the coast of Maine. Failing to meet him there, Hanham 
and Pring carefully explored the shores and harbors, and 
brought home with them the most accurate descriptions 
of the country. " Upon whose relations," says the mani- 
festo of the Plymouth Company, "afterward the lord chief 
justice and we all waxed so confident of the business, that 
the year following, every man of any worth, formerly in- 
terested in it, was willing to join in the charge for the 

* Snuth, i., n4, 151 ; Bancroft, i., 118-129. 



COLONY AT THE SAGADAHOC. 13 

sending over a competent number of people to lay the chap. i. 
ground of a hopeful plantation."* 

Under such auspices, a fly-boat, called the " Grift of popham 
God," commanded by George Popham, the brother of the ""^ ^^'^f ""' 
chief justice, and a ship called the " Mary and John," com- P'J™°""'- 
manded by Raleigh Gilbert, a nephew of Sir Walter Ra- 
leigh, sailed from Plymouth in the summer of 1607, with 3i May. 
one hundred and twenty persons, to found a colony on the 
Kennebeck. Both the commanders were patentees of the 
new charter, and they now carried home with them two 
of the native savages whom Weymouth had taken to En- 
gland.! 

The adventurers arrived off Penobscot Bay early in Au- 7 August. 
f^ust. Thence running westward, they anchored, a few le August. 

1 r 1 ipiriii -ri ^ Anchor at 

days afterward, at the mouth of the Sagadahoc. Popham the sagada- 
and Gilbert then manned their boats and "sailed up into 
the river near forty leagues," to find a fit place for their 
settlement. On the return of the exploring party, " they is August. 
all went ashore, and made choice of a place for their plant- 
ation at the mouth or entry of the river, on the west side." 
The next day, Richard Seymour, their chaplain, preached i9 August, 
them a sermon ; after which the commission of George 
Popham, their president, and their colonial laws, were read. 
The next two months were diligently employed in build- 
ing a fort and store-house ; while Gilbert, with twenty-two 
of his men, explored the adjacent coasts, between the Pe- 
nobscot and Casco Bay. Before long, the ship was sent 
home, in charge of Captain Davies, with news of their prog- 
ress, and with letters to Chief-justice Popham, asking for 
a supply of necessaries to be sent to them betimes the next 
year.t 

After the departure of Davies, the remaining colonists 
finished their intrenched fort, which they named " Saint 
George," and armed it with twelve pieces of ordnance. 

♦ Mass. Hist. Coll., xix., 3, President and Council's "Brief Relation," 1622 ; Purchas, 
iv.. 1827; Prince, 113; Strachey, 162, 163. 

t Strachey, 164 ; F. Gorges, Brief Narration, Mass. Hist. Coll., xxvi. 

t Strachey, 165-179; Gorges, Brief Narration, 54. According to Gorges and Purchas, 
both the vessels sailed for England on the 15th of December, 1607, leaving forty-five per- 
sons only in the colony. Prince, 117. 



14 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. I. Fifty houses, besides a church and store-house, were also 

constructed within the intrenchments ; "and the carpen- 

First vessel *®^^ framed a pretty pinnace of about some thirty tons, 

Europ''e^ans which they Called the Virginia ; the chief shipwright be- 

uiiued "*^ ^^& ^^® I^ig^y? of London." Gilbert, meanwhile, endeav- 

states. Qj-gjj ^ explore more fully the neighboring coasts ; but the 

winter proved so very severe, that " no boat could stir upon 

any business." To add to their distress, their store-house 

took fire, and their provisions in part were burned. Early 

1608. in the new year, their president, Greorge Popham, died. 

5 Feb. jjj ^}jg mean time, the colonists on the Kennebeck had not 

been forgotten by their principals at home. In the course 

of the next summer, Davies returned from England with a 

ship " laden full of victuals, arms, instruments, and tools." 

On his arrival, he found that, notwithstanding the death 

of the president, the colony had prospered ; "all things in 

good forwardness," large quantities of furs obtained, a good 

store of sarsaparilla gathered, and " the new pinnace all 

finished." The " Virginia," of Sagadahoc, was thus the 

first vessel built by Europeans within the limits of the 

original United States. 

1607. But with welcome supplies, the mournful intelligence 
Deam of now rcachcd the colony, that its liberal patron, Chief-jus- 
cmef-jus- ^jpg Popham, had died just after the first ships left En- 
Popham. gja^j^j .* a^jj(j Gilbert also learned that, by the decease of 

his brother, he had become heir to a fair estate which re- 

1608. quired his presence in England. As Popham, their pres- 
ident, was dead, and Gilbert was about to leave them ; as 
no mines, "the main intended benefit to uphold the charge 
of this plantation," had been discovered ; and especially, 
as they feared that all the other winters would prove like 
the first, "the company by no means would stay any lon- 
ger in the country." Th(>y therefore "all embarked in this 

* Sir John Popham dioj on the 10th of June, 1607. lie was a " huge, heavy, ugly 
man," and in his younger days had actually been a highwayman. In 1592 he was made 
Chief Justice of England, and in 100."? presided at the trial of Sir Walter Raleigh, whom 
ho sentenced to death. Lord Campbell, in his biography of Popham, entirely omits any 
reference to his early /.eal in the cause of American discovery and colonization, which — 
as much as any other incident in his life — gives lustre to his ftme. — Campbell's Lives of 
the Chief Justices, i., 226. 



NEW VIRGINIA CHARTER OF 1609. 15 

new-arrived ship, and in the new pinnace, the Virginia, chap, i 
and set sail for England." Thus ended the Northern En- 
gUsh colony upon the Sagadahoc. On the return of the 
faultcring emigrants to England, their disappointed prin- t^e'c"oTo^y 
cipals, vexed with their pusillanimity, desisted for " a long 
time after" from any further attempts at American colo- 1608 
nization ; though a few vessels were still annually employ- \q\^ 
ed in the prosperous fisheries, and in trafficking with the 
Indians on the coast of Maine.* 

The year after the failure of the Plymouth Company's gfnia"chart^ 
colony at the Kennebeck, the London Company obtained ®''; P^^q 
a more ample charter from the king, by which the affairs 23 May." 
of Virginia were placed upon a much better footing. The 
new grant essentially modified the first charter of 1606. 
" The treasurer and company of adventurers and planters 
of the city of London for the first colony in Virginia" were 
made a corporate body, to which the political powers, be- 
fore reserved to the king, were now transferred. An abso- 
lute title was also vested in the company to all the terri- 
tory extending two hundred miles north from Point Com- 
fort, and the same distance to the south, and stretching 
from the Atlantic westward to the South Sea.t Thus, 
while the limits of Virginia were expanded westwardly, 
across the continent, to the Pacific, they were curtailed one 
degree of latitude on the north. Their first charter of 
1606 gave the Virginia Company ihe right to plant colo- 
nics as far north as the forty-first degree. The second 
charter of 1609 fixed their northern boundary at two hund- 
red miles north of Point Comfort, or about the fortieth par- 
allel of latitude. The Plymouth Company continued to 
enjoy a nominal existence for eleven years longer, under 
their first charter ; but, though Smith and Clorges several 
times during that period endeavored to form new settle- 
ments, not a single English colony was permanently plant- 
ed north of Virginia, until 1620. 

Meanwhile, France had continued to look across the At- f/i^rl^"' 

* Strachey, 179, 180 ; Purchas, iv., 1828 ; Gorges, N. E., 19 ; Mass. Hist. Coll., xix., 4 ; 
Hubbard, 3^-40. t Stith's Virg., App. ii. ; Chalmers. 25 ; Hazard, i., 58-72. 



[fj HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. I. lantic. Nearly eighty years after Verazzano had reported 
to Francis I. the deep river he had found opening into " a 
most beautiful lake,"* within the headlands forming the 
" Narrows," in New York harbor, and nearly seventy years 
after Cartier had first ascended the Saint Lawrence, a com- 

1602. pany of merchants was organized at Rouen, to develop the 
resources of Canada. An expedition was soon fitted out, 
under the command of the Sieur du Pont Grrave, a wealthy 
merchant of Saint Malo, who had already made several 
voyages to Tadoussac, at the mouth of the deep and gloomy 

and cham-*^ Sagucnay. By command of the king, Pont Grrave was 

Knada. accompauicd by Samuel de Champlain, of Saint Onge, a 

captain in the French navy, who had just before return- 

1603. ed from the "West Indies. Early in 1603, Pont Grave and 
Champlain reached Tadoussac, where leaving their ships 
to trade with the natives for peltries, they pushed boldly 
up the Saint Lawrence in a small skiff with five sailors, 
following the track of Cartier as far as the Sault de Saint 
Louis at Montreal.! On their return to France, they found 

sNovemb. that Henry IV. had granted to the Huguenot Sieur de 
Monts, one of his gentlemen of the bedchamber, who had 

^a^tent°from rendered him great services during the wars, a patent for 

Henry IV. planting a permanent colony in America, between the for- 
tieth and the forty-sixth degrees of north latitude.^ The 
king soon after granted to De Monts and his associates a 
monopoly of the fur trade in Acadia and the G-ulf of Saint 
Lawrences^ 
lg04. Ii^ the spring of the next year, a new expedition was 

7 March, accordingly organized and dispatched from Dieppe. Pi- 
loted by Champlain, and accompanied by the Sieur de 
Poutrincourt, De Monts safely reached the shores of Aca- 

I'ouirin- dia. The beautiful harbor of Port Royal, now Annapolis. 

i-ourl's set- 1.1 •' ' 1 

niMiient at plcasmg the taste of Poutrincourt, he obtained permission 

i'ort Roval. , , . , , 

to establish himself there. De Monts, however, by Cham- 
rdony'at" P^^-in's advicc, selecting for his own colony the island of 
saj^'.'^ Saint Croix, in the river which now divides Maine from 

* " Bellissimo Lafio ;" sec Verazzano's Letter, in N. Y. H. S. Coll., i. (second series), 
p. 60, quoted, ante, p. 2. t Voyages de Champlain, p. 40 (edit. 1632). 

t Champlain, 42 ; Hazard, i., 45. * Lescarbot, i. ; Chalmers, 82. 



CHAMPLAIN IN CANADA. 17 

New Brunswick, built a fort, and passed the winter there ; chap, l 
and thus, " at a time when there existed no English sub- 
jects in America, the first permanent settlement was made 
in Canada during the year 1604."* 

But the situation of Saint Croix proving inconvenient, 1605. 
De Monts, the next spring, transferred his diminished col- pio^j-rthr 
ony to Port Royal ; and, sailing along the coasts of Maine '^°^f,'^ °|^j 
and Massachusetts, contemporaneously with Weymouth, ^tts'"'^''" 
he claimed for France the sovereignty of the country as 
far as Cape Malebarre. The following autumn he return- September 
ed to Europe, leaving his colony in charge of Pont Grave, 
as his lieutenant, who, with Champlain and Champdore, 
received instructions to explore the adjacent territory more 
accurately, and trade among the hostile savages.! On his 
arrival in France, De Monts entered into a new engage- 
ment with Poutrincourt, who, accompanied by Marc Les- 
carbot the historian,1: returned to Port Royal with welcome 1606. 
supplies, just as the dispirited colonists were about embark- 
ing for home. The French cabins remained at Acadia ; 
and under judicious management the colony prospered, 
until it was surprised and broken up by Samuel Argall 
with a Virginian force, in 1613. Meanwhile, Henry IV., 
urged by the complaints of the French traders and fisher- 
men, who were deprived of their accustomed privileges on 
the coast, revoked the monopoly wliich he had conferred ^^^j^"^*^' 
on De Monts, to whom, however, he granted a small in- ?,'tgnf""'' 
demnity for his loss. But the king soon afterward ratified 1607. 
and confirmed, by his letters patent, the quiet possession 
of Port Royal to Poutrincourt. § 

After four years absence, Champlain returned tochampiain 
France, filled with the ambition of founding a French col- Canada. 
ony upon the River Saint Lawrence. Moved by Cham- 
plain's earnest representations, De Monts succeeded in ob- 1608. 
taining from the king a new commission to plant a settle- 

* Chalmers, 82 ; Champlain, 60. t Champlain, 66-93 ; Lescarbot. 

t Lescarbot, who published, in 1609, his " Histoire de la Nouvelle France," is described 
by Charlevoix (i.,p. 119) as "un avocat de Paris, nn auteur exact, et judicieox, «n homme 
qui eOt H<: aussi capable d'ttablir une colonie, que d'en 6crire I'histoire." 

t) Champlain, 99. 

B 



18 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



Chap. I. 

1608. 

13 April. 



Quebec 
rounded. 
3 July. 



1609. 

30 July. 
Discovery 
of Lake 
Cbamplain. 



The Dutch 

become 

competitors 

with the 

English 

and 

French. 



ment in Canada, and a monopoly of the fur trade for one 
year.* Two ships were promptly equipped at Honfleur, 
and dispatched, under the command of Champlain, to the 
Saint Lawrence. On the 3d of June, the expedition an- 
chored at Tadoussac. After a short delay, Champlain as- 
cended the great river, examining, as he w^ent along, the 
shores on both sides, for the most appropriate spot on which 
to establish the future capital of New France. Finding 
none " more commodious or better situated than the point 
of Quebec, so called by the savages," the rude founda- 
tions of a town were laid, near the spot where Cartier 
had passed the winter about three quarters of a century be- 
fore.! For five dreary months the secluded colonists en- 
dured the inhospitable climate, and saw the face of nature 
all around continually covered with a deep snow. A bright 
spring again opened the streams ; and in the following 
summer, Champlain, accompanied by two of his country- 
men, boldly ascending the River Richelieu or Saurel with 
a war-party of Hurons and Algonquins on an expedition 
against the Iroquois, gave victory to his allies by his Eu- 
ropean fire-arms, and discovered the beautiful lake on our 
northeastern fi*ontier, which will ever commemorate his 
illustrious name.t 

While England and France were thus quietly appropri- 
ating, by royal charters, nearly all the northern territory 
of the New World, a fresh competitor in American discov- 

* Champlain, 114. t Ibid., 118-134. 

i Champlain (edit. Paris, 1632), page 149, states that on the night of July 29, 1609, his 
party, while passing up the lake in their canoes, discovered their Iroquois enemies, "at 
the point of a cape which runs out into the lake from the west side." The enemy barri- 
caded themselves with trees on this cape ; and the next morning, Champlain, advancing 
at the head of the invaders, killed two of the Iroquois chiefs with a discharge of his arque- 
buse, and put their frightened followers to flight. He adds (p. 152), that " the place where 
this attack was made is in forty-three degrees and some minutes of latitude, and I named 
it the Lake of Champlain." On the map which accompanies his work, (Champlain marks 
the place " where the Iroquois were defeated," as a promontory a little to the northeast of 
" a small lake by which one goes to the Iroquois, after having passed that of Champlain." 
These particulars seem to identify Ticonderoga, in Essex county, as the spot where the 
first encounter took place, between the white man and the red man, on the soil of New 
York. Champlain distinctly states that he " afterward" saw the " waterfall" or outlet of 
" another lake, which is three or four leagues long." This lake, now known as Lake 
George, was first named " Saint Sacrenient," by the Jesuit Father Jogues, in 1646. Trans- 
lated extracts of Champlain's work have just been published in iii. Doc. Hist. N. Y., 1-9. 
See also Yates and Moulton's History of New York, i., 177-181. 



1609. 



THE DUTCH REPUBLIC. 19 

ery suddenly appeared, to divide with them the magnifi- chap. i. 
cent prize. The red flag of England waved over Virginia, ' 
and the white banner of France floated over Canada, as the 
tricolor of a new nation was first unexpectedly displayed 
in the unknown intermediate region.* 

A generation of men had lived to see a powerful repub- 1579. 
lie result from the confederation at Utrecht of the North- pj'ovi^ces'^ 
em Provinces of the Netherlands against the bigotry and er'auJ!?^'' 
despotism of Spain. These provinces, whose whole popu- 
lation scarcely exceeded two millions of souls, animated 
by a spirit which Sir Philip Sydney said to Q,ueen Eliz- 
abeth, " is the spirit of Grod, and is invincible," after a 
long and desperate conflict against a powerful adversary, 
finally triumphed over their vindictive oppressor, and com- 1609. 
pelled him to acknowledge their independence and sever- ^ '^p"'- 
eignty. 

The " Union of Utrecht," originally a league which 
bound the provinces together for mutual defense and pro- 
tection, became the Constitution of a Confederated Repub- Their re- 
mi /-(••IT 1 1 publican 

lie. This Constitution, though complex and not entirely constitu- 
popular, was nevertheless a decided and memorable step 
in human progress ; and it enabled the Dutch to establish 
and maintain a system of universal toleration, which, while 
contributing materially to the freedom of their own coun- 
try, made it an inviting asylum for the oppressed of other 
lands.t 

Providence early indicated to that singular country her Maritime 
destiny. While foreign despotic power inflamed the pa- Holland. 
triotism of her people, and forced them to struggle for civ- 
il and religious freedom, the natural disadvantages of 
her geographical position stimulated their enterprise, and 

* The national ensign of the United Provinces was adopted about the year 1582, at the 
suggestion of William I., prince of Nassau and Orange. It was composed of the prince's 
colors, orange, white, and blue, arranged in three equal horizontal stripes. After the 
death of William II. (1650), a red stripe was substituted for the orange ; and the Dutch 
ensign, at the present day, remains what it was, as thus modified, two centuries ago. — 
J. C. de Jonge, "Over den Oorsprong der Nederlandsche Vlag," 1831, 26-68. 

t I shall invariably use the term " Dutch," in its legitimate English sense, as referring 
exclusively to the inhabitants of the Seven United Provinces of the Netherlands and their 
descendants. A blunder is frequently committed in applying the name " Dutch," instead 
of their proper denomination " Germans," to the people of Germany in general. 



20 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. I. taught them continual lessons of perseverance. A vast 
morass, protruding into the sea, and formed by the accu- 
mulations which the Rhine continually brings down from 
the foot of the Alps, the Low Countries are only saved from 
the encroaching ocean by the ceaseless and irrepressible 
energy of their inhabitants. But the very ocean, which 
the untiring industry of the Dutch drives back from their 
narrow shores, was destined to be their widest scene of 
triumph, and their open avenue to wealth. A few fisher- 
men's huts at the mouth of the Amstel, at a period when 
the cities of Flanders had attained celebrity, soon became 
the "Venice of the North;" the sea, subdued by skillful 
toil, flowed quietly through her splendid canals, and 
brought treasures from the ends of the earth to the very 
doors of her cosmopolitan burghers ; and crowded streets, 
and rich warehouses, and stately palaces, and magnificent 
churches, usurped the ancient abode of the stork and the 
heron. Well might Fenelon describe the Tyre of his day 
as the " queen of all the seas."* 

Energetic, undaunted, and persevering at home, the 

Dutch could not fail to push their enterprising commerce 

The way of into cvcry zone. The very leo^end on their earliest coin- 

the Dutch r i • i , , i 

"in the age predicted, m holy words borrowed from the Vulgate, 
the maritime destiny of that people, whose "way is in the 
sea," and whose " paths are in many waters."! Accus- 
tomed from childhood to play fearlessly with the waves, 
the natives of Holland and Zealand were foremost in ad- 
venture ; and the capital of the merchants of Amsterdam 
and Middleburg found abundant employment for the hardy 
crews which their own cities readily furnished. Even 
while its political existence was yet uncertain, the upstart 
republic " grasped the whole commerce of the world as its 

♦ " Celte grande ville semble nager au-dessu3 des eaux, et 6tre la reine de tout la mer. 
Les marchands y abordent de toutes les parties du monde, et ses habitants soiit eux-mdmes 
les plus fameux marchands qu'il y ait dans I'univers. Quand on entre dans cctte ville on 
croit d'abord que ce n'est point une ville qui appartienne 4 un peuplc particulier, mais 
qu'cUe est la ville commune de tous les peuples, et le centre de leur commerce."— T616- 
maque, liv. iii. 

t In 1562, the mint of Zealand issued a penny, stamped with the efflgy of a sceptered 
king riding a sea-hor-se over the waves, and surrounded by the words " In mari via tua, 
et semitiB tuse in aquis multis." See Bizot's " Medalische Historie," 12 ; Van Loon, i., 58. 



MARITIME ENTERPRISE OF THE DUTCH. 21 

portion, and thus supplied itself with resources for a strug- chap. i. 
gle which was longer and more desperate than that of 
Greece with Persia!"* ^^^"^ 

While Charles V. was yet their sovereign, the Dutch ap- 
pear to have become familiar with part of the New World, Early voy- 

r _ ^ ' ages. 

which the Pontiff had granted, as a perpetual donation, to 
the kings of Spain. But the Revolution, which followed 
the accession of Philip II., interrupted for awhile the dis- 
tant voyages of the insurgent Batavians.t The same sum- 
mer that the United Provinces declared their independence 
of Spain, Thomas Buts, an English captain, who had five 
times visited the Spanish American islands, proposed to 1581. 
the states of Holland to conduct an expedition to the West '" ■^""*^' 
Indies. But though the projected adventure seems to have 
been viewed with favor, no results are recorded. All the 
while, commerce flourished at home ; and in spite of edicts, 
the Dutch maintained the command of the nearer seas. 1585. 
One thousand new vessels were annually built in Holland. 
From the Cape de Verd Islands to the White Sea, a profit- iiome com- 
able coasting trade was carried on ; out of the Vlie alone the Dutch, 
sailed nearly six hundred ships, in one year, to bring corn 1587. 
from the Baltic. Before long, William Usselincx, a native 
of Antwerp, who had spent many years in Castile, Portu- 
gal, and the Azores, suggested the advantage of an associ- 1591. 
ation for trading to the West Indies. The views of Usse- 
lincx were listened to with respect, but his counsels were 
not immediately followed. Yet they were not without 
their effect. A few years afterward, Grerrit Bicker Peters- 
zoon, of Amsterdam, and Jan Corneliszoon Leyen, of Enck- voyages to 

*' ' the West 

huysen, under the patronage of the States of Holland, iniiies. 
organized separate companies for the West India trade. 1597. 
Their enterprise was the forerunner of eventual success.^ 
Meanwhile, the Dutch, sharing largely in the carrying 
trade of Europe, had sought distant regions for a more lu- 
crative traffic. In 1594, Cornelius Houtman, the son of a 

* Heeren. t Sir John Carr on the Commerce of the Dutch. 

{ Van Meteren, xiii., 260, 261 ; xiv., 283, 324 ; xix., 419 ; Wagenaar, Amst., 1., 407, 408, 
416 ; Vad. Hist., ix., 152, 153 ; Davies's Holland, ii., 181, 182, 200, 201 ; Muilkerk (Berg Van 
Dussen), Bydragen tot de Gescniedenis onzer Kolonizatie in Noord Amerika, A., 2-7. 



1594. 



82 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. I. brewcr of Grouda, returning from Lisbon, where he had 
■ spent the previous year, brought back tempting accounts 
of the gorgeous products of the East, which he had seen 
crowding the quays of the Tagus. His glowing descrip- 
tions provoked emulation ; and nine merchants of Am- 
sterdam, forming an association, equipped a flotilla of four 
ships, equally fitted for war and for trade, of which Hout- 
ages' 10*1116 '^^^ undertook the command. Following the track of the 
Ses' '"" Portuguese, he doubled the Cape of Grood Hope, and in two 
1596. years returned to Amsterdam with rich cargoes of Eastern 
products.* And thus began the marvelous Indian com- 
merce of the Dutch. The edicts of Philip could not ex- 
clude the independent Netherlanders from the free navi- 
gation of the seas. Thenceforth they determined to vindi- 
cate, by force of arms, their right to participate freely in 
that commerce which despotic selfishness was vainly at- 
tempting to monopolize. The privateers of the Batavian 
Provinces were every where victorious ; and the ware- 
1598. houses of their owners were soon filled with the choicest 
Dut"h en-°'^P'*oductions of the Indies, and ornamented with the ensigns 
ihe'East!" of ^lic couqucrcd galleons of Spain. And while the cir- 
cuitous voyage round the Cape of Grood Hope thus gave 
ample returns, mercantile enterprise sought shorter ave- 
nues to the East. Under the influence of the vigorous 
Balthazar Moucheron, of Middleburg, expeditions were dis- 
1594. patched from Zealand and Holland to explore a more direct 
Ex edi- Passage to China, and Cathay or Japan, by way of Nova 
uons to the Zembla and the Polar Seas. Asfain, and a third time, un- 

Polar Sea.s. ^ ' ' 

1595-6. successful attempts were repeated ; and the daring enter- 
prise, in which Barentsen, Cornelissen, and Heemskerk en- 
dured almost unparalleled trials, and won a renown as last- 
ing as that of Willoughby or Davis, was at length aban- 
doned in despair.! 
1600. The wealth of the East, which soon began to pour into 
Holland, naturally produced competition among the partic- 
ipants in the open traffic. Influenced by the representa- 

* Richesse de la Ilollande, i., 35 ; Van Meteren, xxiii., 509. 

t Van Meteren, xviii., 371, 376 ; xix., 404, 419 ; Lambrechtsen, 7, 8 ; Davies, ii., 290- 
294, 328 ; Muilkerk, A., 18, 19. 



DUTCH EAST INDIA COMPANY. 23 

tions of the merchants, who feared in an unrestrained rival- chap. i. 
ry a diminution of their individual profits, and looking also 
to the political advantages which the republic itself might 
gain in its conflict with Spain, the States G-eneral now re- 
solved that the various adventurers engaged in commerce 
with the East should be united in one corporate body. A 
charter was accordingly granted in the spring of 1602, by 1602. 
which those merchants were incorporated for a period of ^ ^"''*' 
twenty-one years, under the name of the "East India The Dutch 
Company," with a capital of 6,600,000 of livres, the ex- company. 
elusive privilege of trading in the Eastern Seas beyond 
the Cape of G-ood Hope on the one side and the Straits of 
Magellan on the other, and large powers for conquest, col- 
onization, and government within those limits.* 

While this powerful commercial monopoly was covering 1607. 
the Eastern Ocean with its fleets, and returning to its share- 
holders, in a single year, three fourths of their invested cap- 
ital,t men's minds had been earnestly considering whether 
the Western World might not also offer a tempting field 
for Dutch mercantile enterprise. William Usselincx, who 
had already su2r«fested an association to trade in the West a. west in- 

•^ " dia Coinpa- 

Indies, was asjain among the most zealous to uro;e the im- ny pro- 

^ ° ^ posed. 

mediate establishment of a company in the Netherlands, 
modeled after the one which had proved so successful in 
the East. He represented his project as an additional 
means of humbling their arrogant enemy on the very seas 
from which Philip was endeavoring to shut out the com- 
merce of the republic ; and besides the mercantile advant- 
ages which would result from securing the traffic with 
those affluent regions, he pressed the higher motive of the 
conversion of their heathen inhabitants to the Cliristian 
faith. The proposals which Usselincx circulated won gen- 
eral assent ; and, aided by the influence of Plancius, Lin- 
schoten, and other leading scholars and merchants of Hol- 
land and Zealand, an application was made to the States 

* Van Meteren, xxiv., 512. Cape Horn was not known to Europeans at this period. 
Schouten, who named it after his native city, "Hoorn," in North Holland, first sailed 
round the Cape in 1616. 

t In the year 1606, the East India Company divided 75 per cent. Moulton, 194. 



34 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. I. Greneral for the incorporation of a " "West India Company," 

to trade exclusively, for thirty-six years, to the coast of 

' Africa, from the tropics to the Cape of Grood Hope, and to 

Its organi- America, from the Straits of Magellan to Newfoundland. 

zatton post- ' ~ 

P""*'''- But the Dutch government w^as now engaged in negotia- 
tions for a peace with Spain, which Grotius and Barne- 
veldt feared the proposed charter might prejudice ; and the 
truce, which was finally concluded in 1609, suspended for 
several years any definite action on the subject.*' 
Henry Mcanwhilc, a shorter passage to China and Cathay, by 

voyages Way of thc Nortlicm Seas, continued to be a favorite the- 
dontothe ory in England, as well as in Holland and Denmark. A 
company of wealthy and energetic men in London, not dis- 
couraged by the ill-luck of all previous efforts, determined 
to attempt again, in 1607, the enterprise in which so many 
others had failed. Contributing the necessary means for 
an expedition, they intrusted the command to a skillful 
and experienced mariner, Henry Hudson, a native of En- 
gland, and a friend of the famous Captain Jolin Smith, who 
had just before sailed with the first colony for Virginia, 
and whom, in boldness, energy, and perseverance Hudson 
strongly resembled. But the expedition was unsuccess- 

1608. ful, as was also a second voyage in the following year, and 
the London Company suspended further efforts.! 

Not disheartened by his two failures, Hudson now re- 

1609. solved to go to Holland, in the hope of meeting there encour- 
gj^slonoi- agement to attempt again the venturesome enterprise he 
'and. ^^^ gQ ambitious to achieve. He was not disappointed. 

His proposition to the East India Company, though opposed 
by the Zealand department, where Balthazar Moucheron's 
long experience in former fruitless voyages inffuenced his 
colleagues, found favor with the more liberal Amsterdam 
The Dutch dircctors. By their orders, a yacht, or Vlie-boat, called 

E. I. Com- -^ ' J ' 

panyf.toutthe " Half Moon," belonging to the company, of forty 
Moon lasts or eighty tons burden, t was equipped for the voy- 

» Van Meteren, 527, 528, 553, 556, 601, 603 ; Grotius, 721 ; Bentivoglio, i., 37 ; Bancroft, 
ii., 262, 263 ; Muilkcrk, A., 10-17 ; Davies, ii., 404, 405. 
t Purchas, iii., 567 ; N. Y. II. S. Coll., i., 61-102 ; Yates and Moulton, i., 198-200. 
t " Ship book" found, in 1841, in the Archives of the old East India Company at Am- 



THE HALF MOON SAILS FROM HOLLAND. 25 

age, and manned by a crew of twenty sailors, partly Dutch cuap. i. 

and partly English. The command was intrusted to Hud- TTT 

• 1G09 

son ; a Dutch " under-schipper" or mate was appointed ; 

and instructions were given to explore a passage to China 

by the northeast or northwest.* 

The Half Moon left Amsterdam on the fourth of April, 

1609, and on the sixth took her departure from the Texel. 6 Apni. 

Doublinsr the Cape of Norway on the fifth of May, Hudson s^i's from 

the Texel. 

found the sea so full of ice, that he was obliged to aban- 
don his purpose of penetrating eastward of Nova Zembla. 
Some of his motley crew, who had been used only to the 
East India service, could ill endure the severity of the cold, 
and now began to murmur. Upon this, Hudson proposed 
to them two alternatives. The fu'st was to sail directly 
to America, in about latitude 40°, where, according to the 
letters and charts which Smith had sent him from Vir- 
ginia, he would find a sea affording a passage to the East 
round the English colony. The other proposition was to 
penetrate westward, through Davis's Straits ; and this be- 
ing generally approved, Hudson sailed toward the island 
of Faro, where he arrived on the last of May, and remain- 3i May. 
ed a day to water. Thence he stretched westward across 
the Atlantic ; but failing to see the islands which Frobish- 
er's ships had visited in 1578, he shaped his course for 
Newfoundland. After a stormy and perilous voyage, in 
which he lost his foremast overboard, Hudson arrived, ear- 
ly in July, on the Banks, where he was becalmed long 
enough to catch more cod than his " small store of salt" 
could cure. He then stood farther to the west, and run- 

sterdam. A " Vlie-boat" ia so called from it.s being built expre.ssly for the difficult navi- 
gation of the Vlie and the Texel. It is a very fast-sailing vessel, with two masts, and 
usually of about one hundred tons burden. The name, as well as the model of this Dutch 
craft, was soon adopted in other countries. The French called it " Flibot ;" the English, 
" Fly-boat ;" and the Spaniards, " Flibote." Some of our writers have, unfortunately, al- 
tered the historical name of the " Half Moon" to the fancifiU name of the " Crescent." 
Hudson's vessel was really called by her owners " de Halve-Maan," and not "do Was- 
sende-Maan," of which latter phrase only is " Crescent" the proper English equivalent. 

* Van Meteren, xxxi., 674 ; N. Y. H. S. Coll., ii. (.second series), 368-370; Lambrecht- 
sen, 9, 10, and in N. Y. II. S. Coll., i. (second series), 84, 85 ; Muilkerk, 18, 19. Robert 
.Tuet, of Limehouse, England, who wrote the Journal printed by Purchas, acted as Hud- 
son's own clerk, but not as " under-schipper" of the Half Moon. Van Meteren expressly 
says that that officer was a Netherlander. 



26 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

(H.vr. 1. ninw alono^ the coast of Nova Scotia, arrived at Penobscot 
Bay, where he remained a week, cuttinsr a new foremast 
18 July ^^^ mending his tattered rigging. While there, he was 
Penobscot visited by two French-built shallops full of Indians, some 
^^^- of whom even " spake some words of French," and pro- 
posed to traffic. But Hudson, suspicious of his visitors, 
kept a vigilant watch ; while a part of his ship's compa- 
ny seized one of the shallops, with which they landed, and 
wantonly despoiled the cabins of the friendly natives. 
Fearing that the lawless conduct of his turbulent crew 
26 July might provoke retaliation, Hudson set sail the next day to 
the southward, and kept at sea for a week, until he made 
3 August, the land again, and sent his shallop in to sound the shore. 
The next morning he anchored at the northern end of a 
headland, where his boat's crew landed, and found the na- 
tives rejoicing to see them. Supposing it to be an un- 
known island, Hudson named the region New Hoi.land, 
in honor of his patrons' fatherland. But after trying in 
vain to find an opening to the westward, he put about, and 
Atcape passing the southern headland, which he now perceived 
was the one which Grosnold had discovered in 1602 and 
named " Cape Cod," he stood off to sea again toward the 
southwest. 
18 August. In a fortnight Hudson arrived off the mouth of the Ches- 
apeake Bay, which he recognized as " the entrance into 
At the the King's River in Virginia, where our Englishmen are." 
chesa- But the temptation to meet his friend Smith, who, disgust- 
ed with the distractions in the colony at Jamestown, and 
maimed by accidental wounds, was preparing to return to 
England, did not divert Hudson from the great object of 
his voyage. Contenting himself with a few soundings, he 
stood again to sea, and passing northward along the coast 
28 August, of Maryland, he ran into a " great bay with rivers" — aft- 
dis^vers erward called the " South River," and " New Port May" 
i)"iawarr by the Dutch, and " Delaware" by the English — where 
^^' the Half Moon anchored.* 

* Vander Donek.p. 7, adds, and "took the first possession." This bay and river the 
Dutch called the South River, to distinguish it from the North or Hudson River ; and also 



HUDSON AT SANDY HOOK. 27 

Finding the navigation so difficult, that " he that will chap. i. 
thoroughly discover this great bay must have a small pin- 
nace that must draw but four or five feet water, to sound 
before him," Hudson stood out to sea again, and, running 
northward several days along a low sandy coast, with 
" broken islands," arrived, on the evening of the second of 2 sept. 
September, in sight of the "high hills" of Navesinck, then, 
as now, " a very good land to fall in with, and a pleasant 
land to see." The next morning he sailed onward until ssept 
he came to " tliree great rivers," the most northerly of 
which he attempted to enter, but was prevented by the 
" very shoal bar before it."* So, sending his boat before 
him to sound the way, he went in past Sandy Hook, and 
on the evening of the third of September, 1609, anchored Anchors m 
the Half Moon in the bay, where the waters were alive Hook Bay 
with fish.t 

For a week Hudson lingered in the lower bay, admiring Hudson m 

New Jcr* 

the "goodly oaks" which garnished the neighboring shores, sey. 
and holding frequent intercourse with the native savages 
of Monmouth, in New Jersey. The Half Moon was visit- 
ed in return by the wondering Indians, who flocked on 
board the strange vessel, clothed with mantles of feath- 
ers and robes of fur, and adorned with rude copper neck- 
laces. Meanwhile, a boat's crew was sent to sound the e scpt 
river, which opened to the northward. Passing through 
the Narrows, they found a noble harbor, with "very good 
riding for ships." A little further on, they came to " the 
Kills," between Staten Island and Bergen Neck, " a narrow 
river to the westward, between two islands." The lands 

New Port May, after Cornelis .Tacobsen May, of Hoorn. Many of our writers assert that 
Lord Delawarr touched at this bay, on his way to Virginia in 1610. But this is an error. 
On that occasion Lord Delawarr sailed by way of the West Indies, and approached Vir- 
ginia from the southward. Indeed, there is no evidence that Lord Delawarr ever saw the 
waters which now bear his name, as will be shown in a note (D) in the Appendix. 

* Two of these were, no doubt, the Raritan and the Narrows ; and the third one, to the 
northward, with the shoal bar before it, probably Bockaway Inlet. 

t " So we weighed and went in, and rode in five fathoms ooze ground, and saw many 
salmons, and mullets, and rays very great. The height is forty degrees thirty minutes." 
This statement in Juet's Journal agrees, very nearly, with the actual latitude of Sandy 
Hook, which is forty degrees twenty-eight minutes. Doctor Mitchill, in N. Y. II. S. Coll., i., 
41, however doubts the correctness of the accounts in the Journal respecting the abund- 
ance of salmon in the North River when first visited by Hudson, though he admits that 
that fish has been taken there. 



28 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. I. on botli sidcs Were " as pleasant with grass, and flowers, 
and goodly trees, as ever they had seen, and very sweet 
smells came from them." Six miles up this river they 
saw " an open sea," now known as Newark Bay. In the 
evening, as the hoat was retm-ning to the ship, the explor- 
ing party was set upon by two canoes full of savages ; and 
Death of one of the English sailors, John Colman, was killed by an 
man. ° arrow shot in his tliroat. The next day Hudson buried, 
7 seiit. upon the adjacent beach, the comrade who had shared the 
dangers of his polar adventures, to become the first Eu- 
ropean victim of an Indian weapon in the placid waters he 
had now reached. To commemorate the event, Sandy 
9 Sept. Hook was named " Colman's Point." The ship was soon 
visited by canoes full of native warriors ; but Hudson, sus- 
pecting their good faith, took two of the savages and " put 
red coats upon them," while the rest were not suffered to 
approach. 
The tiaif Cautiously sounding her way through the lower bay, 
«theNa?:the Half Moon at length "went into the river" past the 
n^ept. Narrows, and anchored near the mouth of the Kills in "a 
very good harbor for all winds." The native savages came 
at once on board, " making show of love ;" but Hudson, 
remembering Colman's fate, "durst not trust them." The 
12 Sept. next morning twenty-eight canoes, "made of single hol- 
lowed trees," and crowded with men, women, and chil- 
dren, visited the yacht. But none were suffered to come 
on board, though their oysters and beans were gladly pur- 
chased. In the afternoon the Half Moon ran six miles 
further up ; and the crew were enraptured by the loveli- 
ness of the surrounding country. "It is as beautiful a 
land as one can tread upon," said Hudson, " and abounds 
in all kinds of excellent ship timber."* 
Hudson be- "^^^ ^^^^^ °^ Europcaus, Hudsou now began to explore 
cendthr' *^® great river which stretched before him to the north, 
North Riv- opening, as he hoped, the way to the Eastern Seas. Slow- 
13 Sept. ly drifting upward with the flood-tide, he anchored over 
night just above Yonkers, m sight of " a high point of 

♦ "Is BOO schoonen landt als men met voeten belreden mach."— Hudson's Report, 
quoted by De Laet, cap. x. 



HUDSON EXPLORES THE NORTH RIVER. 29 

land, which showed out" five leagues off to the north.* chap. i. 
The next day, a southeast wind carrying him rapidly up 
Tappan and Haverstraw Bays, and beyond the " strait" j.j ^ ^ 
between Stony and Verplanck's Points, Hudson sailed on- 
ward through the majestic pass gviarded hy the frowning 
Donderberg, and at nightfall anchored his yacht near 
West Point, in the midst of the sublimest scenery of the 
" Matteawan"t Mountains. 

The next morning was misty until the sun arose, and 15 sept. 
the grandeur of the overhanging highlands was again re- 
vealed. A fair south wind sprung up as the weather be- 
came clear ; and while the Half Moon was getting under 
way, the two savages who had been detained captives on 
board at Sandy Hook, watching their opportunity, leaped 
out of a port-hole and swam ashore, scornfully deriding 
the crew as the yacht sailed onward. A bright autumnal 
day succeeded the misty morning. Running sixty miles 
up along the varied shores which lined the deep channel, 
and delighted every moment with the ever-changing scen- 
ery, and the magnificent virgin forests which clothed the 
river banks with their gorgeous autumnal hues, Hudson 
arrived, toward evening, opposite the loftier " mountains nie iiair 
which lie from the river's side,"$ and anchored the Half catskiii. 
Moon near Catskill landing, where he found a " very lov- 
ing people and very old men." 

The friendly natives flocked on board the yacht, as she le Sept. 
remained lazily at anchor the next morning, and brought 
the crew " ears of Indian corn, and pumpkins, and tobac- 
co," which were readily bought " for trifles." In the aft- 

* The North River schippers afterward named this well-known landmark, just north 
of Nyack, in Rockland county, " Verdrieti^ Hook," or Tedious Point. It is about seven 
hundred feet high, and obtained its name because it was generally so long in sight of the 
slow-sailing sloops of former days. The name, formerly .so expressive, is still retained ; 
though our Hitting modern conveyances hardly allow it now to tire the eye. 

t The Indian name for the Highlands, according to Spafford, and Moulton, i., p. 240. 

t The " Kaatsbergs," or Catskill Mountains, the most elevated range along the river, 
are about eight miles inland from the west bank, and extend northward from back of 
the town of Saugerties, in Ulster county, to the town of Durham, in Greene county. Ac- 
cording to Captain Partridge's measurement, in 1818, " Round Top," the highest point in 
the chain, is 3804 feet above tide water ; "High Peak," the next in altitude, is .'(TIS feet. 
" Pine Orchard," the famous summer resort of tourists, is a level tract of about seven 
acres, on the edge of a precipice about 2214 feet above the river, of which it commands a 
magnificent view for sixty miles. 



30 mSTORY OF THF STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. I. emoon, Hudson went six miles further up the river, and 

anchored over night near the marshes which divide the 

channel, opposite the flourishing city which now bears his 

17 Sept. name. Early the next morning he set sail again, and 

slowly working his way through the shoaling channel and 
among the "small islands" which embarrassed navigation, 
anchored, toward evening, about eighteen miles further 
up, between Schodac and Castleton. 

18 Sept. Here the Half Moon remained at anchor all the next 
Hudson day. In the afternoon, Hudson went ashore "with an old 
sdiodac. savage, a governor of the country, who carried him to his 

house and made him good cheer." The visit is graphic- 
ally described in the original Journal preserved by De 
Laet. "I sailed to the shore," says Hudson, "in one of 
their canoes, with an old man who was the chief of a tribe 
consisting of forty men and seventeen women. These I 
saw there, in a house well constructed of oak bark, and cir- 
cular in shape, so that it had the appearance of being built 
with an arched roof. It contained a great quantity of 
maize or Indian corn, and beans of the last year's growth ; 
and there lay near ^the house, for the purpose of drying, 
enough to load tliree ships, besides what was growing in 
the fields. On our coming into the house, two mats were 
spread out to sit upon, and some food was immediately 
served in well-made red wooden bowls. Two men were 
also dispatched at once, with bows and arrows, in quest of 
game, who soon brought in a pair of pigeons which they 
had shot. They likewise killed a fat dog, and skinned it 
in great haste, with shells which they had got out of the 
water. They supposed that I would remain with them 
for the night ; but I returned, after a short time, on board 
the ship. The land is the finest for cultivation that I ever 
in my life set foot upon, and it also abounds in trees of ev- 
ery description. These natives are a very good people ; 
for when they saw that I would not remain, they supposed 
that I was afraid of their bows ; and, taking their arrows, 
they broke them in pieces and threw them into the fire."* 

* Juet, in hia account of the voyage, says that the person who went ashore with the 



THE HALF MOON AT ALBANY. 31 

With the early flood-tide on the following morning, the chap. i. 
Half Moon " ran higher up, two leagues above the shoals," 
and anchored in deep water, near the site of the present jg g^pj 
city of Albany. The people of the country came flocking ^oon af ^i. 
on board, and brought grapes and pumpkins, and beaver '""'^' 
and otter skins, which were purchased for beads, knives, 
and hatchets. Here the yacht lingered several days. The 
carpenter went ashore, and made a new foreyard ; while 21 stpt. 
Hudson and his mate, " determined to try some of the 
chief men of the country, whether they had any treachery 
in them," took them down into the Half Moon's cabin, and 
" gave them so much wine and aqua vitce that they were 
all merry." An old Indian, stupefied with drink, remain- 
ed on board to the amazement of his simple countrymen, 
who "could not tell how to take it." The traditions of Reveion 
the aborigines yet preserve the memory of this first revel,* 
which was followed, the next day, by another visit from 
the reassured savages, one of whose chiefs, addressing Hud- 
son, "made an oration, and showed him all the country 
round about." 

Every thing now seemed to indicate that the Half Moon End of the 
had reached the head of ship navigation. The downward voyage, 
current was fresh and clear, the shoaling channel was nar- 
row and obstructed ; yet Hudson, unwilling, perhaps, to 
abandon his long-cherished hope, dispatched the mate, with 22 scpt. 
a boat's crew, to sound the river higher up. After going 
" eight or nine leagues" further — probably to some dis- 
tance above Waterford — and finding "but seven feet wa- 

" old savage," was the " master's mate," or onder schipper, wrho, according to Van Mete- 
ren, was a Dutchman. On the other hand, Dc Laet expressly states that it was Hudson 
himself, and he quotes, from Hudson's own Journal, the passage which I have inserted 
in the text. The place where Hudson landed is stated by Do Laet to have been in lati- 
tude 42° 18'. This would seem to fix the scene of the event at about five or six miles 
above the present city of Hudson, wliich is in 42" 14'. But latitudes were not as accurately 
determined in those days as they are now ; and a careful computation of the distances run 
by the Half Moon, as recorded in Juet's log-book, shows that on the 18th of September, 
when the landing occurred, she must have been " up six leagues higher" than Hudson, or 
in the neighborhood of Schodac and Castleton, 

* " It is very remarkable th.tt, among the Iroquois or Six Nations, there is a tradition, 
still very distinctly preserved, of a scene of intoxication which occurred with a company 
of the natives when the first ship arrived." — Rev. Dr. Miller's Discourse, in N. Y. 11. S. 
Coll., i., p. 35 ; Heckewelder, in Moulton'e N. Y., i., p. 551-254 ; ii., N. Y. H. S. Coll., i., 
71-73. See Note A, Appendix. 



32 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. 1. ter, and inconstant soundings," the exploring party return- 

ed late at night, and reported that they had " found it to 

be at an end for shipping to go in."* 

Hudson re- Hudsou uow reluctautly prepared to return. His ascent 

the river, of the rivcr had occupied eleven days ; his descent con- 

23 Sept. sumed as many more. Bidding adieu to the friendly sav- 

ages among whom he had tarried so pleasantly, and slow- 
ly descending the difficult channel for nine or ten leagues, 

24 .Sept. he ran aground again, the next afternoon, on the " bank 

of ooze in the middle of the river," opposite the present city 
of Hudson. Here he remained wind-bound for two days, 
which were occupied in wooding the vessel, and in visit- 

86 Sept. ing the neighboring shores. While the yacht was lying at 
anchor, two canoes full of savages came up the river six 
miles fi'om Catskill, where the crew had " first found lov- 
ing people" on their upward voyage. In one of these ca- 
noes was the old man who had reveled on board the Half 
Moon " at the other place," and who had followed by land 
the yacht's progress down the river. He now brought 
" another old man with him," who gave " stropes of beads" 
to Hudson, and "showed him all the country thereabout, 
as though it were at his command." The visitors were 
kindly entertained ; and as they departed, made signs that 
the Europeans, who were now within two league^ of their 
dwelling-place, " should come down to them." 

But the persuasions of the friendly old chief were of no 

27 Sept. avail. Weighing anchor the next day with a fair north 
wind, Hudson ran down the river eighteen miles, past the 
wigwams of the " loving people" at Catskill, who were 
"very sorrowful" for his departure, and toward evening 
anchored in deep water near Red Hook, where part of the 

29 Sept. crew went on shore to fish. The next two days were con- 
sumed in slowly working down to the " lower end of the 
long reach" below Pokeepsie, where the yacht was again 
visited by friendly Indians ; and then proceeding onward, 

* De Laet, in cap. vii., states that Hudson explored the river " to nearly 43° of north 
latitude, where it became so narrow and of so little depth, that he found it necessary to 
return." As Albany is in 42° SS^, the boat must, therefore, have gone above that place 
" eight or nine leagues" further — the distance given in Juet's Journal. 



RETURN OF THE HALF MOON. 33 

Hudson anchored in the evening under the northern edge chap. i 
of the Highlands. Here ho lay wind-Lound for a day, in ~ 
a very good roadstead, admiring the magnificent mount- 30 ^ ' ' 
ains, which looked to him " as if some metal or mineral 
were in them." 

Early the next morning a fair wind sprung up, and the 1 ootobcr. 
Half Moon, sailing rapidly through the winding Highlands, 
anchored, at noon, near Stony Point. Here some of the 
" people of the mountains" came on board, wondering at 
the "ship and weapons." The same afternoon, a thievish 
native, detected in pilfering some articles through the cab- 
in windows, was shot without mercy by the mate ; and Indians 
the stolen things were promptly recovered from the canoes stony 
of the frightened savages, who lost another life in their 
flight. This was the first Indian blood shed by Europeans 
on the North River. After this sanguinary atonement had 
been exacted, the yacht dropped down two leagues further, 
through Haverstraw Bay to Teller's Point, near the mouth 
of the Croton. 

The next day, a brisk northwest wind carried the Half 2 October. 
Moon seven leagues further down, through Tappan Sea to 
the head of Manhattan Island, where one of the captive 
Indians, who had escaped from the yacht in the Highlands, 
on the upward voyage, came off from the shore with many 
other savages. But Hudson, " perceiving their intent," 
would suffer none of them to enter the vessel. Two <^a- tko um 
noes full of warriors then came under the stern, and shot 'a'-kci near 
a liight ot arrows mto the yacht. A few muskets wereington. 
discharged in retaliation, and two or three of the assail- 
ants were killed. Some hundred Indians then assembled 
at the point near Fort Washington, to attack the Half 
Moon as she drifted slowly by ; but a falcon-shot killed 
two of them, " whereupon the rest fled into the woods." 
Again the assailants manned another canoe, and again the 
attack was repulsed by a falcon shot, which destroyed their 
frail bark ; and so the savages "went their way," mourn- 
ing the loss of nine of their warriors. The yacht then "got Hudson an- 
down two leagues beyond that place," and anchored over Ho°boktn. 

C 



1609. 



34 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. 1. night " on the other side of the river," in the bay near Ho- 
boken. Hard by his anchorage, and upon "that side of 
the river that is called Manna-hat a,''"' Hudson noticed that 
" there was a cliff that looked of the color of a white 
gi-een."* Here he lay wind-bound the next day, and " saw 

4 October, no pcoplc to trouble" him. The following morning, just 
one month after his arrival at Sandy Hook, Hudson weigh- 
ed his anchor for the last time, and coming out of the 
" great mouth of the great river" into which he "had run 

Sails from SO far," he set all sail, and steered off again into the main 

Sandy 

iiook. sea.t 

The Half Moon's company now held a council, and were 
of various minds. They were in want of stores, and were 
not on good terms with each other, " which, if they had 
been, they would have accomplished more." The Dutch 
mate wished to wdnter at Newfoundland, and then explore 
the northwest passage through Davis's Straits. But Hud- 
son, fearing his mutinous crew, who had lately begun to 
" threaten him savagely," opposed this proposition, and 
suggested their immediate return to Holland. At last they 

■iiie Half all agreed to winter in Ireland. So they sailed eastward 

rivera^t'^ for a mouth, without seeing any land by the way, and on 
anmou I. ^j^^ seventh of November, 1609, arrived safely at Dart- 
mouth, in Devonshire. 

Hudson Thence Hudson immediately sent over an account of 

sends a re- i t\ i t-i t i ■ /-< 

port to the his voyage to the Dutch East India Company, at Amster- 
(■ompaiiy. dam, proposing to renew the search for the northwest pas- 
sage in the following spring, after refitting the Half Moon 
in England, and superseding several of the most turbulent 
of her crew. But contrary winds prevented his report 
from reaching Amsterdam for some time. When at length 
the East India directors heard of Hudson's arrival at Dart- 
mouth, they instructed him to return with his vessel to 
Holland as soon as possible. As he was about complying 

* The mineralogist may spend an agreeable day in visiting this clifl', near the " Elysian 
Fields" at Hoboken. Hudson supposed it to be a copper or silver mine. 

t Sec Juet's Journal of Hudson's third voyage, in Purchas, and in i. N. Y. H. S. Coll., 
i., 102-146 ; and De Laet, in second series of same collections, i., 289-310. An interesting 
analysis of the Half Moon's voyage up and down the river, is in Yates and Moulton's His 
tory of New York, vol. i., p. 201-272. 



THE RIVER OF THE MOUNTAINS, IN 1609 ;35 

with these orders early in the foliowint^ year, he was ar- chap. \. 
hitrarily forbidden to leave his native country by the En- ; 
glish authorities, who were jealous of the advantages ja„„a, ' 
which the Dutch had gained by reason of Hudson's dis- 
coveries while in their service ; and the Half Moon was 
detained for several months, quietly at anchor in Dart- 
mouth harbor.* 

The American territory, which had thus been discover- 'i'i><: out^h 

•^ . discoveries 

ed by the agents of the Dutch East India Company, though '" North 
included within James's fu-st Virginia patent of 1606, was 
actually unoccupied, and unpossessed ''by any Christian 
prince or people." In the south, John Smith's exploring 
parties were visiting the upper waters of the Chesapeake, 
and far off in the north the arquebuses of Samuel Cham- 
plain were dealing death to the aborigines on the " Lake 
of the Iroquois," when, with extraordinary coincidence, 
Henry Hudson was about piloting the first European ves- 1609. 
sel through the unknown " River of the Mountains" which 
flowed between. No stranger but Verazzano seems to have 
passed the " Narrows" before those wondering mariners 
who navigated the Half Moon of Amsterdam up that ma- 
jestic stream, to which the assent of the world has given 
the name of its illustrious explorer.! All above was new 
and undiscovered. The lethargy of uncivilized nature 
reiffned throughout the undisturbed solitude. The wild 
game sprung from their familiar retreats, startled by the 

* N. Y. H. S. Coll. (second series), ii., 370. " Et comme Hudson 6tait pr^t de partir 
avec la navire et ses gens, pour aller faire rapport de son voyage, il fut arrets en Angle- 
terre, et recut commandement de ne point partir, mais qu'il dcvait faire service il sa pa- 
trie ; ce qu'on commanda aussi aux autres Anglais qui etaient au vaisseau. Ce que plu- 
sieurs trouverent Ibrt Strange, de ce qu'on ne permettait pas au patron d'allcr faire 
compte, et de faire rapport de son voyage et de qu'il avail fait, a ses maitres, qui I'avaient 
envoys en ce voyage ; puisque cela se faisait pour le bien conimun de toutes sories de 
navigations. Ceci se fit en Janvier. 1610. On estimait que les Anglais le voulaient en- 
voyer avec quelques navires, vers Virginia, pour rechercher plus avant la susdite Riviere." 
— Van Meteren, xxxi., 074, 675, edit. 1618. Emanuel Van Meleren, the author of this ex- 
cellent History of the Netherlands, was for many years Dutch consul in England, and 
died in London, at the age of seventy-seven, on the 18th of April, 1612. 

t It is stated, indeed, in the " Report and Advice" presented by the Chamber of Ac- 
counts of the West India Company, on the 15th of December, 1644, that New Netherland, 
" stretching flrom the South River, situated in thirty-eight and a half degrees, to Cape Mal- 
cbarre, in the latitude of forty-one and a half degrees, was first visited by the inhabitants 
of this country, in the year 1598, and especially by those of the Greenland Company, but 
without making fixed habitations, and only as a refuge in the winter." — Holland Docu- 
ments, ii., 368. This statement, however, needs confirmation. See Appendix, note A. 



1609. 



36 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. I. unusual eohoes which rolled through the ancient forests, 
as the roar of the first Dutch cannon boomed over the si- 
lent waters, and the first Dutch trumpets blew the inspir- 
ing national airs of the distant Fatherland. The simple 
Indians, roaming unquestioned through their native woods, 
which no sounding axe had yet begun to level, and pad- 
dling their rude canoes along the base of the towering hills 
which lined the unexplored river's side, paused in solemn 
amazement, as they beheld their strange visitor approach- 
ing from afar, and marveled whence the apparition came.* 
Thus the triumphant flag of Holland was the harbinger 
of civilization along the banks of the great river of New 
York. The original purpose of the Half Moon's voyage 
had failed of accomplishment ; but w^hy need Hudson re- 
pine ? He had not, indeed, discovered for his employers 
the long-sought passage to the Eastern Seas ; but he had 
led the way to the foundation of a mighty state.t The at- 
tractive region to which accident had conducted the Am- 
sterdam yacht, soon became a colony of the Netherlands, 
where, for half a century, the sons and daughters of Hol- 
land established themselves securely under the ensign of 
the republic ; transplanted the doctrines of a Reformed 
faith ; and obeyed the jurisprudence which had governed 
their ancestors. In the progress of events, a superior pow- 
er took unjust possession of the land ; and nearly two hund- 
red years have rolled by since the change came to pass. 
Yet the hereditary attributes of its earliest settlers have 
always happily influenced the destinies of its blended com- 
munity ; and many of the noblest characteristics of its Ba- 
tavian pioneers have descended to the present day, unim- 
paired by the long ascendency of the red cross of Saint 
Greorge, and only more brightly developed by the inter- 
mingling of the various races which soon chose its inviting 
territory for their home. 

The picturesque shores, along which Hudson lingered 
with enthusiastic delight — and the magnificence of which 

♦ See Appendix, note B. 

t The population of the State of New York, in 1850, was 3,097,358 ; about equal to thai 
of the United States when the Definitive Treaty of Peace was signed in 1783. 



1609. 



THE HUDSON RIVER. 89 

drew from him the bold eulogium, "it is as beautiful a chap. i. 
land as the foot of man can tread upon" — have become the' 
favorite seat of elegance and refinement, and have witness- 
ed the resistless rise of " empire and of arts." The silent 
River of the Mountains is now the highway of a bound- 
less traffic, and bears upon its bosom the teeming wealth 
which grand artificial channels, connecting it with the 
mediterranean seas of a broad continent, bring down to its 
tides, from coasts of vast extent and illimitable resources. 
Swift steamers now crowd those waters, where Fulton's 
native genius first 

" by flame compelled the angry sea, 

To vapor rarefied, his bark to drive 

In triumph proud, through tiie loud sounding surge ;" 

while the yet more " rapid car" rushes incessantly along 
the iron road which science, obeying the call of enterprise, 
has stretched along the river's bank. The rights and in- 
terests of millions are now secured by equal laws, ordain- 
ed by freely chosen agents, and enforced by the common 
consent. And while, at the head of tide-water, the political 
afiairs of the commonwealth are watched and administer- 
ed, and the people declare their sovereign will, the ocean- 
washed island of Manhattan, at the river's mouth, is the 
cosmopolitan emporium of an eager commerce which whit- 
ens every sea. 



38 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



CHAPTER II. 

1609-1614. 

Chap. II. At the time of Hudson's grand discovery, the United 
Netherlands had iust taken the rank of an independent 

The Dutch '> ' 

an inde- nation. For more than forty years they had maintained 

pendent na- . 

tion when an uncqual strife against the bigotry and despotism of 
made dis- Spain. The confederation of the Provinces, in 1579, had 

covenes in '^ _ ... 

their scrv- been followed, in 1581, by the noblest political act which 
the world had then ever witnessed — ^the declaration of their 
national independence. Q,ueen Elizabeth, who had warm- 
ly espoused the cause of the revolted provinces the year be- 
fore the Union of Utrecht, formally opened diplomatic re- 
lations with the States General in 1585, and even sent 
troops to their succor, under the command of her favorite, 
the Earl of Leicester. In 1604, James I. not only re- 
ceived ambassadors from the states, but, in conjunction 
with Henry IV. of France, agreed to use his best efforts to 
procure the recognition of their independence by Spain. 
A large number of the people of England, at the same time, 
were warmly in favor of an alliance with the Netherlands. 
The naturally unambitious character of the Dutch and the 
convenience of their country for trading, rendered them 
safe and profitable allies ; while the difficulty of securing 
the English coast from their attacks, and the English mer- 
chant vessels from their privateers, would have rendered 
them equally mischievous and formidable enemies. Yet 
James himself, though he agreed to permit contingents of 
troops to be raised within his kingdom for their defense, 
heartily disliked the Dutch ; and the more so, because he 
found that the English soldiers who served in the Nether- 



1009. 



TRUCE BETWEEN SPAIN AND THE NETHERLANDS. 39 

lands, returned home filled with notions of popular rights c hap. ii. 
and civil liberty which they had imbibed in the repub-' 
lican provinces.* But Providence had determined that 
the soldiery of England were to learn in Holland, during 
the reign of James, lessons in human freedom and govern- 
ment, which were soon afterward to receive a stern appli- 
cation in the reign of James's unfortunate son. 

Three years more of varied war, in which the success- 
es of Spinola's armies on land were splendidly overbalanced 
by the victories of the Dutch fleets at sea, and the King 
of Spain, wearied with an apparently interminable contest, 
which had baflled all his calculations, and nearly drained 
his treasury, sent ambassadors to the Hague early in 1607, 
to open negotiations for a peace with the Netherlands. 
But the Dutch were not yet unanimous for a cessation of 
hostilities. Since their triumphs over the Spaniards, they 
had begun to imbibe a spirit of ambition and conquest 
alien to their former sober national character ; and, from 
being patient traders and brave defenders of their country 
against invasion, they had become adventurous and victo- 
rious aggressors. Perceiving these changes in the habits 
of the people, and fearing still greater and more inconven- 
ient modifications, Barneveldt, the Advocate of Holland, 
and many other patriotic statesmen, ardently wished for 
peace. But the clergy, who mistrusted the bigotry of Phil- 
ip, deemed an equitable treaty with Spain impracticable ; 
and the stadtholder. Prince Maurice of Nassau, naturally 
opposed the termination of a war in which he was gaining 
both laurels and emolument as general-in-chief. A large 
party sided with Maurice, urging that war was more safe 
and advantageous for the provinces than peace, which 
would, at any rate, throw out of employment vast num- 
bers of people ; and many of the merchants feared that 
with the end of hostilities the trade and commerce, which 
had been transferred to Amsterdam, would return to more 
commodiously-situated Antwerp. Fortunately the coun- 
sels of peace prevailed, and the negotiations which were 

* Davies, ii., 384, 385. 



40 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. II. opened by the Spanish ambassadors, requesting a tempora- 
ry truce, received unexpected emphasis from Heemskerk's 
■ splendid victory over D'Avila, before Gibraltar, on the 
twenty-fifth of April, 1607. But Philip, though he agreed 
to acknowledge the sovereignty and independence of the 
provinces, refused to gi-ant them, by treaty, a freedom of 
trade to India ; while the states, on the other hand, were 
determined, at all hazards, to insist upon their right to a 
commerce in which they employed upward of one hund- 
red and fifty ships and eight thousand men, and the an- 
nual returns of which were estimated at forty-three mill- 
ions of guilders. With the acknowledgment of their po- 
litical independence, they claimed the recognition of the 
consequence of independence — the free navigation of the 
seas. Upon this tender point, the progress of the negotia- 
tions was arrested.* 

At length, after two years of discussion and vicissitude, 
the conferences which had kept Europe in suspense re- 
9 .\prii. suited in the signing, at the Town Hall at Antwerp, on 
the ninth of April, 1609, of a truce for a term of twelve 
years, instead of a definitive peace. The fulfillment of the 
treaty was guaranteed by England and France ; the United 
Netherlands were declared to be " free countries, provinces, 
and states," upon which Philip and the archdukes had no 
claim ; mutual freedom of trade between the contracting 
parties was established ; and, by a secret article, the King 
of Spain engaged to offer no interruption to the commerce 
of the Dutch with India. The truce, after being ratified 
by the archdukes at Brussels, and by the States G-eneral, 
who were specially convened at Bergen-op-Zoom, was pub- 
is April, licly proclaimed at Antwerp and the other chief towns of 
Flanders, amid demonstrations of universal joy, the ring- 
ing of bells, and salvos of artillery. The great bell at Ant- 
werp, which had not sounded for many years, was rung by 
twenty-four men, and its glad peal was heard twelve miles 
off, at Ordam and Lillo. The priests chaunted " Te Deum 

* Grotius, XV., 716; Van Meteren, xxviii., 608; xxix., 626-630; Watson's Philip II., 
iii., 217, 241 ; Davies, ii., 405-427. 



INDEPENDENCE AND SOVEREIGNTY OF THE DUTCH. 41 

Laudamus ;" the inhabitants of the towns promenaded chap. n. 
outside of the walls, like newly-liberated prisoners; and 
boat-loads of passengers came through the canals, from 
Zealand and Holland, to visit friends whom they had not 
seen for a long generation. But the now martial people 
of the Northern United Provinces tempered their triumph 
by a recollection of the sufferings which they and their 
fathers had undergone. The States General proclaimed a 
solemn fast; and the day was religiously celebrated in alloiMio. 
the churches of the United Netherlands by hearty prayers 
" that the Provinces might be maintained and preserved in 
a firm union, amity, and correspondence, under a properly 
authorized government."* 

By foreign nations, the publication of the truce was re- 
ceived with astonishment and admiration. They could 
scarcely persuade themselves that the haughty Spaniard 
could ever be forced to acknowledge the independence and 
sovereignty of his rebel subjects, and tacitly allow them a 
free trade to India. But no sooner had the ratifications 
of the treaty been exchanged, than the powers of Europe 
and Asia formed new estimates of the resources of the 
Dutch, and of the wisdom and energy of their counsels, 
and immediately began to vie with each other in courting 
their alliance and invoking their support. Soon after the 
signature of the treaty, the States General sent the Sieur 
de Schoonewalle on an embassy to England. The king 
received him at once "as ambassador of a free country 12 juiy. 
and state," and immediately commissioned his Master of 
Requests, Sir Ralph Winwood, to reside in Holland as his 
ordinary ambassador. Thenceforward, the Dutch were 
universally esteemed "as a free and independent people. 
Having gained immortal honor by the magnanimity which 
they had displayed during the continuance of the war, 
they were now considered as having obtained the reward 

* Corps Dip., v., 99-102 ; Grotius, xviii., 812 ; Van Meteren, xxx., G58. The proclama- 
tion by government authority, in this state, of days of fasting and days of thanltsgiving, 
was a custom derived from Holland. Frequent instances in which the directors of New 
Netherland imitated the pious example of the Fatherland, will be found in the following 
pages. 



42 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

(;hap. II. which their virtue merited, and were every where respect- 
ed and admired. Their ministers at foreign courts were 
now received with the same distinction as those of other 
sovereign powers."* It is a somewhat singular coinci- 
dence, that the treaty was signed just three days after 
Hudson had sailed from the Texel on his voyage of dis- 
covery. So far, therefore, as England, France, and Spain 
were concerned, the nationality and sovereignty of the 
United Provinces were recognized with sufficient distinct- 
ness at the period of Hudson's voyage ; and the Dutch were 
certainly, from that time forward, abundantly competent 
to take and enjoy any rights derived from discovery under 
the law of nations.! 
Hudson's Hudson himself never revisited the pleasant lands he 
loiiic '' had discovered and extolled. The hardy mariner, still 
isnsiish intent on solving the problem of the northern passage to 

service. __ 

China, and prevented by the jealousy of English authority 
from leaving his native country to engage again in enter- 
prises for the benefit of foreigners, re-entered the service 
of his early London patrons, and sailed from the Thames 
in " The Discovery," on his last and fatal vo3'^age to the 
1610. north, in the spring of 1610. Passing Iceland, where he 
i: April, saw the famous Hecla " cast out much fire," he doubled 
the southern Cape of Greenland, and penetrated through 
Davis's Straits into the vast and gloomy waters beyond. 
While Hudson's recent companions in the Half Moon were, 
under another chief, renewing a happy intercourse with 
the native savages along the River of the Mountains, the 
intrepid navigator himself was buffeting with arctic tem- 
pests, in fruitless efforts to explore the "labyrinth without 

* Van Meteren, xxxi., 662 ; Wat.son, iii., 278 ; Davies, ii., 427-439. 

t Chalmers, Pol. Ann., 568, intimates doubts on this subject. But this biased annal- 
ist, though a standard authority on many points, must be read with great caution in all 
that he writes with reference to the early history of New York. His strong English prej- 
udices constantly led him into serious misstatements in regard to the discoveries of other 
nations. The shores of New Jersey and New York had certainly not been "often ex- 
plored" before Hudson's voyage. Cabot can not strictly and fairly be said to have "ex- 
plored" a coast which he seems to have seen only occasionally. And what is the evi- 
dence that he took " formal possession" of any part south of Newfoundland 7 Of Euro- 
peans, Vera7.7.ano alone, who merely looked into the beautiful harbor of New York, was 
really the predecessor of Hudson. Holmes, i., 135, 1,16, follows Chalmers, and repeats 
his errors. 



THE FUR TRADE OF HOLLAND. 43 

end" in which he had become involved. At length, after chap. n. 
spending a dreary winter of suffering and privation on the 
frozen coast, he was basely abandoned by liis mutinous 
crew on midsummer's day, 1611, in a forlorn shallop, in 1611. 
the midst of fields of ice, to perish miserably in that sullen iiurisons 
and inhospitable Bay, the undying name of which perpet- 
uates the memory of his inflexible daring.* 

The Half Moon having, as we have seen, been detained tuo iiaii 

^ . Moon n-- 

eight months in Encjland, did not reach Amsterdam until turns to 
the summer of 1610, and the directors of the East India >^'">\ 
Company, indisposed to continue efforts in a quarter which ,5 ,J|^ ' 
did not seem to promise the coveted passage to Cathay, 
and which was not strictly within the limits of their char- 
ter, took no further steps to make available the discoveries 
which their yacht had effected.! 

But, meanwhile, if the glowing account of the country uuuti en- 

terprise ex- 

he had visited, which Hudson sent from England to his cited. 
Dutch patrons, corroborated by his companions in discov- 
ery, on the Half Moon's return to Amsterdam, did not at 
once induce active efforts to transfer to those pleasant re- 
gions permanent colonies from the over-populated Father- 
land, it did not fail to stimulate commercial adventure in 
a quarter which promised to yield large returns. 

Toward the end of the sixteenth century, in the midst 
of their war with Spain, the Dutch had opened a prosper- Tiuir nir 
ous commerce at Archangel ; and, in 1604, they had ob- Russia. 
tained from the Czar concessions of such a liberal charac- 
ter as to attract to that port from sixty to eighty Holland 
ships every year. From Archangel, their traders had in- 
tercourse with Novogorod and the great inland towns, and 
carried on a large traffic in the furs of ancient Muscovy. 
The wise simplicity of the first Russian tariff laid a duty 
of five per cent, on all imported goods, and allowed an 

' N. Y. H. S. Coll., i., 146-188. 

t The subsequent career of the Half Moon may, perhaps, interest the curious. The 
small " ship book," before referred to, which I found, in 1841, in the company's archives 
at Amsterdam, besides recording the return of the yacht on the 15th of July, 1610, states 
that on the 2d of May, 1611, she sailed, in company with other vessels, to the East Indies, 
under the command of Laurens Reael ; and that on the 6th of March, 1615, she was 
" wrecked and lost"' on the island of Mauritius. 



44 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. II. equivalent amount to be exported duty free. "Whoever ex- 
ported more than he imported, paid a duty of five per cent. 
' on the difference.* 

A new temptation was unexpectedly offered to the ex- 
panding commerce of Holland. Vast regions in North 
America, which Hudson had seen abounding in beaver 
and other valuable furs, and where native hunters, unre- 
strained by arbitrary regulations of excise, furnished ready 
and exhaustless cargoes, were now open to Dutch mercan- 
tile enterprise. The tempting opportunity was not neg- 
Another lectcd, Auothcr vessel was immediately fitted out, and 

ship sent ^° ■,. ■, -, /-n r\ ^ 

Manhattan, dispatchcd ffom the Texel in the summer of 1610, to the 
great River of the Mountains, with a cargo of goods suit- 
able for traffic with the Indians. The new adventure was 
undertaken at the private risk of some merchants of Am- 
sterdam,! who, perhaps, as directors of the East India 
Company, had read Hudson's report to his Dutch employ- 
15 July. ers. The Half Moon had now just returned to Amster- 
dam after her long detention in England. A part of her 
old crew manned the new vessel, the command of which 
was probably intrusted to Hudson's Dutch mate, who had 
opposed his early return ;t and the experienced mariners 
soon revisited the savages on the great river, whom they 
Tradition had left thc autumii before. Tradition relates, that when 
asi^sre- thc Europcans arrived again among the red men, "they 
her voyage, were mucli rcjoiccd at seeing each other." ^ 

Meanwhile, the occupation of Virginia by the English 

had become well known in Holland, and the States Gren- 

eral, through Caron, their ambassador at London, had even 

Overtures made ovcrturcs to the British government " for joining 

Dutcii to with them in that colony." A proposition had also been 

the English . ,t-. tt icii 

respecting made to unite the East India trade of the two countries. 
But the statesmen of England would not favor either of 

* Richcsse de la IloUande, i., 51 ; McCuUagh's Industrial History, ii., 255. 

t Do Laet, book iii., cap. vii. ; Albany Records, xxiv., 167. It is scarcely necessary to 
add, that the statements in Smith's History of New York, i., 2, 3, respecting Hudson 
having " sold the country, or rather hia right, to the Dutch," &c., are utterly fabulous. 

t Muilkerk, A., 19. 

1) Hoi. Doc, i., 211 ; Ileckcwelder, in ii. N. Y. H. S. Coll., i., p. 73 ; and in Yates and 
Moulton, i., p. 251. See also Appendix, note C. 



CHRISTIAENSEN AND BLOCK AT MANHATTAN. 4.j 

the Dutch projects. They feared, they said, "that in case chap, ii 
of joining, if it be upon equal terms, the art and industry 
of their people will wear out ours."* 

The theory of a northern passage to China by way of The diucIi 
Nova Zembla had continued, in the mean time, to be again toex- 
warmly supported by many learned men in Holland, northern 
Among these was Peter Plancius, of Amsterdam, who, like china, 
his contemporary Hakluyt, was distinguished no less as 
a clergyman than as a promoter of maritime enterprise. 
Plancius insisted that Heemskerk had failed in 1596, be- 
cause he attempted to go tlirough the Straits of AVeygat, 
instead of keeping to the north of the island. In compli- 
ance with Plancius's opinion, the States Greneral, early in 
1611, directed that two vessels, the "Little Fox" and the 1611. 
" Little Crane," should be furnished with passports for voy- ^' ^'^^' 
ages to discover a northern passage to China. But the ice 
arrested the vessels long before they could reach the 80th 
degree of latitude, to which they were ordered to proceed.t 

About the same time, Hendrick Christiaensen, of Cleef, christiaen- 
or Cleves, near Nymegen, returning to Holland from a voy- voyase to 
age to the West Indies, found himself in the neighborhood 
of the newly-discovered river, which the Dutch had already 
begun to call the "Mauritius," in honor of their stadthold- 
er. Prince Maurice, of Nassau. But deterred by the fear 
of losing his heavily-laden vessel, and remembering that a 
ship from Monichendam, in North Holland, had been cast 
away on that coast, Christiaensen did not venture into the 
river at that time, reserving the enterprise for a future oc- 
casion. On his arrival in Holland, Christiaensen, in com- christi!i<-n 
pany with another " worthy"' mariner, Adriaen Block, ac- Blocks 
cordingly chartered a ship, "with the schipper Ryser, and age. 

* Winwood's Memorial, iii., 239 ; Extract of a letter from Mr. John More to Sir Ralph 
Winwood (English ambassador at the Hague), dated London, 15th December, 1610. " So 
soon as the Hector (now ready to hoist sail) shall be set forth of this haven towards Vir- 
ginia, Sir Tliomas Gates will hasten to the Hague, where he will confer with the States 
about the overture that Sir Noel Caron hath made for joining with us in that colony. Sir 
Noel hath also made a motion to join their East India trade with ours ; but we fear that 
in case of joining, if it be upon equal terms, the art and industry of their people will 
wear out ours." 

t Uol. Doc, i., 12; Van Meteren, xxxii., 715 ; DaTies, ii., 294, 743 ; Neg. de Jeannin, 
Ui., 294. 



46 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. II. accomplished his voyage thither, bringing back with him 
two sons of the chiefs there."* 



The reports which the comrades made on their return 
to Holland, and the personal presence of the two young 
savages, named " Orson and Valentine," whom they had 
brought over as specimens of the inhabitants of the New 
World, added a fresh impulse to the awakened enterprise 
Public at- of the Dutch merchants. Public attention in the Nether- 
Hoiiand lauds soou bccame alive to the importance of the newly- 
' discovered regions in North America. A memorial upon 
the subject was presented to the Provincial States of Hol- 
T sepi. land and West Friesland by " several merchants and in- 
habitants of the United Provinces ;" and it was judged of 
sufficient consequence to be formally communicated to 
the cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Hoorn, and Enck- 
huysen.t 

1612. The experience which Christiaensen and Block had now 
gained, naturally recommended them for further employ- 
ment. Three influential and enterprising merchants of 

Ships sent Amsterdam, Hans Hongers, Paulus Pelgrom, and Lam- 

iVom Am- mifiTT 

stertiainto brccht vau Tweenhuvscn — oi whom Honorers was a di- 

Manhattan • i -n t t />i i • i 

under rcctor m the East India Company — soon determmed to 

Cliristiaen- ., , f -i r i i • i rr i 

sen and avail tliemselvcs of the favorable opportunity thus onered 

Block. . . . 1 1 Ti 

to their enterprise. Equipping two vessels, " the Fortune" 
and " the Tiger," they intrusted the respective commands 
to Christiaensen and to Block, and dispatched them to the 
island of Manhattan, to renew and continue their traffic 
with the savages along the Mauritius River. 

Other merchants in North Holland soon joined in the 

other ships trade. The "Little Fox," under the charge of Captain 

John De Witt, and the " Nightingale," under Captain Thya 

1613. Volckertsen, were fitted out by the Witsens and other prom- 
inent merchants of Amsterdam ; while the owners of the 

* Wassenaar's " Historische Verhael," &c., viii., 65 ; Muilkerk, A, 21. Wassenaar'.s 
work has hitherto been unknown to our historians. In 1818, 1 was fortunate enough to 
procure a copy in London, from which a sliort " Memoir of the Early Colonization of New 
Nethcrland" was prepared and published in N. Y. II. S. Coll. (second series), ii., 355. A 
translation of some extracts from Wassenaar has just appeared in Boc. Hist. N. Y., iii., 
27-48. The precise date of Christiaenscn's first voyage is not given. 

t IIol. Doc, i., 14 ; Wassenaar, i.x., 44. 



CONDITION OF MANHATTAN ISLAND. 47 

ship " Fortune," of Hoorn — the city which was soon to give chap. ii. 
its immortal name to the southern Cape of America — dis-" ~ 
patched their vessel, in charge of Captain Cornelis Jacob- 
sen May, to participate in the enterprise of their metropol- 
itan friends, on the Mauritius River.* 

The admirable commercial position of Manhattan Isl- commei- 
and soon indicated it, by common consent, as the proper ance of 
point whence the furs collected in the interior could be perceived. 
most readily shipped to Holland. To secure the largest 
advantages from the Indian traffic, it was, nevertheless, 
perceived that inland depots would become indispensable. 
Thus, cargoes of furs could be collected during the winter, 
so as to be ready for shipment when the vessels had been 
refitted, after their arrival out in the spring. Manhattan 
Island, at this time, was in a state of nature; herbage was condition 
wild and luxuriant; but no cattle browsed in its fertile and.*' 
valleys, and the native deer had been almost exterminated 
by the Indians. The careful kindness of the Dutch mer- 
chants endeavored to remedy, as well as possible, the 
want of domestic animals for the use of their solitary trad- 
ers ; and Hendrick Christiaensen, by his ship-owners' di- 
rection, took along with him, in one of his voyages, a few 
goats and rabbits to multiply at Manhattan. But these 
animals — the first sent from Holland to New York — were 
soon poisoned by the wild verdure, to which they were un- 
accustomed.! 

Up to this time, the Dutch traders had pursued their xue Dutch 
lucrative traffic in peltry, without question or interruption. qu°ainted" 
No European vessels but theirs had yet visited the regions North n't- 
around the Mauritius River. Their ships returned to Hoi- Rh""""'' 
land freighted with large cargoes of valuable furs, which 

* llol. Doc, i., 39 ; Muilkerk, A, 24. The " Little Fox" was probably the same vessel 
which had been sent to Nova Zembia in 1011. 

t Wassenaar, ix., 44. It seems from Wassenaar's account, that the native species of 
dogs, in New Netherland, was quite small ; for when Lambrecht van Tweenhuyson, one 
of the owners of Christiaensen and Block's ships, gave one of these captains a " large dog" 
to take out with him, the Indians, coming on board the ship, were very much afraid of 
the animal, and called him "the sachem of the dogs," because he was one of the largest 
they had ever seen. The translation in Doc. Ilisl. N. Y., iii., 40, is inaccurate. Van 
Tweenhuysen gave the dog to his schipper ; he was not a " schipper" himself, but a 
'• Feeder," or ship-owner, and he does not appear ever to have visited Manhattan. 



48 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

c iiAi'. II. yielded enormous profits to tlieir owners. From Manhat- 
"~~~~ t^'^j small trading shallops were dispatched into the neigh- 
'"*■ boring creeks and bays of " Scheyichbi," or New Jersey, 
and up the Mauritius River, as far as the head of naviga- 
tion. The Dutch had been the first, and, hitherto, the only 
Europeans to visit the Indian tribes in these regions, with 
all of whom they had continued to maintain a friendly and 
cordial intercourse. But while the Holland merchants pro- 
moted new explorations, they do not appear, as yet, to have 
directed the construction of permanent defenses ; although 
it has been said that, " before the year 1614," one or two 
small forts were built on the river for the protection of the 
growing peltry trade.* 

Loss of By accident, Adriaen Block's ship, the Tiger, was bum- 

mock's 111/r1 1-11 • XT! 

.ship, and ed at Manhattan, while he was preparing to return to Hol- 
« yacht at land. Undismayed by his misfortune, the persevering mar- 

.M;inhatt!in. i •, t i ,-1 i ■ ii 

mer set about building a small yacht, out of the admirable 
ship timber with which the island abounded. This work 
occupied Block during the winter of 1613, and until the 
spring of 1614. To accommodate himself and his corn- 
First cab- panions during their cheerless solitude, a few huts were 
the island. HOW first crcctcd near the southern point of Manhattan 
Island ; and, in the absence of all succor from Holland, the 
friendly natives supplied the Dvitch, through a dreary win- 
ter, "with food and all kinds of necessaries."! 

* In a memorial to the States General, dated 25th of October, 1034, the West India Com- 
pany say, that " under the chief command of your High Mightinesses, before the year 
1614, there were one or two little forts built there, and provided with garrisons for the 
protection of the trade." — Hoi. Doc, ii., 138. Dc Laet, however, who wrote in 1024 — ten 
years before the company's memorial — distinctly states that one small fort was built " in 
the year 1014," upon an island in the upper part of the river. In another place he says it 
was built in 1015.— De Laet, book iii., cap. vii., ix. For various reasons, which will bo 
exhibited further on, I think there was only one fort built ; that it was on " Castle Island," 
near Albany ; and that it was erected in 1014. 

t De Laet, book iii., cap. x. ; De Vries, 181 ; " Hreedcn Raedt aen de Verceinghde Ne- 
derlandsche Provintien," &c., p. 14, 15. This latter very rare tract (for the use of which 
I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. Campbell, the deputy librarian at the Hague) is now 
for the first time quoted in our history. The statement in the Ureeden Raedt, of the In- 
dians thbmselves, is that " when our people (the Dutch) had lost a certain ship there, and 
were building another new ship, they (the savages) assisted our people with food and all 
kinds of necessaries, and provided for them, thrmtsrh two urintcrx, until the ship was fin- 
ished." Dc Laet, in his later editions of 1033 and 1040 (book iii., cap. vii.), says, that to 
carry on trade with the natives, "our people remained there during winter." De Vries, 
p. 181, repeats the same statement. The account in the Breeden Raedt, that Block btdlt 
his yacht during the xfinter, seems thus to be fully confirmed. That the vessel was bniU 



THE COLONY OF VIRGINIA. 49 

The infant colony of Virginia had, meanwhile, suffered chap. ii. 
strange vicissitudes. Under the second charter of King 
James, which passed the great seal early in 1G09, Thomas Virginia af- 
Lord Delawarr was appointed governor for life ; Sir Thomas 23'Mav. 
G-ates, lieutenant governor ; Sir Greorge Somers, admiral ; 
and Christopher Newport, vice-admiral. An expedition, 
consisting of nine vessels, was equipped and dispatched for 
Virginia, with five hundred emigrants, a few days before 
the charter was actually sealed. Lord Delawarr himself 15 May. 
did not leave England with the expedition ; but he dele- 
gated the command, in the interim, to Grates, Somers, and 
Newport.* 

When near the end of their voyage, a hurricane sepa- 
rated the ship in which the three commissioners had em- 
barked from the rest of the squadron, and wrecked it on shipwreck 
Bermuda.! The remnant of the fleet reached Virginia to- d". 
ward the end of the summer ; and to avoid anarchy, John 11 Augu.st. 
Smith, who had now been two years in the colony, assumed 
the chief command, in the absence of the newly-commis- 
sioned officers, whose fate was yet unknown. But the new 
colonists consisted of " many unruly gallants, packed hither 
by their friends to escape ill destinies." Against every pos- 
sible discouragement. Smith resolutely maintained his au- 
thority, and his influence introduced something like order 
among the unruly emigrants. At length, an accidental ex- 
plosion of gunpowder, which mangled his person, disabled 
him from duty, and obliged him to return home for surgical 
aid. Disgusted at the opposition he had met with in the smith re- 
colony, which owed him so much, the " Father of Virginia" England. 
delegated his authority to Greorge Percy, and embarked for October 
England, a few weeks after Hudson had set sail for Eu- 
rope with the news of his grand discovery. I 

In the mean time, G-ates and his companions, who had 
been cast away on Bermuda, had subsisted upon the nat- 

during the winter of 1G13, and was finished and used in the spring of 1614, seems also cer- 
tain from Hoi. Doc, i., 47, 53. 

* Smith, i., 233 ; Purchas, iv., 1729. 

t Strachcy's account of this shipwreck in Purchas, iv., 1734, is supposed by Malone to 
be the foundation of Shakspeare's " Tempest." This opinion, however, has recently beea 
controverted. t Smith, i., 239 ; ii., 108- 

D 



50 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. II. ural products of that fertile island, the luxuriance of which 
afterward won from Waller the matchless panegyric, 

Gates sails " Heaven sure has left this spot of earth uncurs'd, 

from Ber- To show how all things were created first." 

muda to 

Virginia. j)yj.ii^g ^j^g autumu and winter, with admirable persever- 
ance they constructed two small pinnaces out of the wreck 
of their old ship and the cedars which they felled on the 
island. After a nine months' sojourn in their delightful 
abode, they embarked in these vessels, in the spring of 
1610. 1610, and in a few days arrived safely at Jamestown. 
33 May. -g^^ instead of a happy welcome, they met a scene of mis- 
The"starv- erv, and famine, and death. The four hundred and ninety 

ing time" '' I . . .•' 

1.1 Virginia, persons whoHi Smith had left in the colony, had, in six 
months, tlu'ough vice and starvation, dwindled down to 
sixty. In their extremity of distress, they all now determ- 
ined to desert Virginia, and seek safety and food among 
the English fishermen at Newfoundland. Embarking in 

6 June. four piniiaces, the colonists bade adieu to Jamestown. 
" None dropped a tear, for none had enjoyed a day of hap- 
piness."* 

Arrival of But uncxpectcd rclicf was at hand. After nearly a 

warr. year's delay in England, Lord Delawarr embarked at 
Cowes on the first of April, 1610, and set sail for Virginia 
with three vessels laden with supplies. The squadron fol- 
lowed the old route, by the roundabout way of Terceira and 
Grratiosa ; and, early in June, Lord Delawarr first made the 
land " to the southward of the Chesapeake Bay." Running 

6 June. in toward the shore, he anchored over night at Cape Hen- 

7 June. ry^ where he landed and set up a cross. The next morn- 

ing he sailed up the» Chesapeake to Point Comfort, where 
he heard the sorrowful tale of "the starving time." At 
that very moment, the pinnaces conveying the remnant of 
the dispirited colony were slowly falling down the James 
River with the tide. The governor instantly dispatched a 
boat with letters to Gates announcing his arrival. The 
9 June. next day, the pinnaces were met descending the river ; and 

* Cbalmers, 30 ; Bancroft, i., 137-140. 



ARGALL AT DELAWARE BAY. 5J 

G-ates immediately putting about, relanded his men the chap. ii. 
same night at Jamestown. 

Lord Delawarr soon arrived before the town with his jq j„nc ' 
ship; and, after a sermon by the chaplain, commenced the 
task of regenerating the colony. A council was sworn in ; 
" the evils of faction were healed by the unity of the ad- 
ministration, and the dignity and virtues of the governor ;" 
and the rejoicing colonists now began to attend to their 
duties with energy and good- will. To supply pressing lo June, 
want. Sir Greorge Somers was promptly dispatched with somers and 
Samuel Argall, "a young sea-captain of coarse passions pauhed to 
and arbitrary temper," in two pinnaces, to procure fish and 
turtle at Bermuda.* 

After being a month at sea, the pinnaces parted com- 
pany in a fog ; and Argall, despairing of rejoining his com- 2: .luiy. 
rade, made the best of his way back to Virginia. Falling 
in with Cape Cod, he sailed to the southward, and in a 10 August. 
week found himself again within twelve leagues of the 
shore. Early the next morninsr, he anchored " in a very 27 August. 

1 c 1 1 • 1 Argall an- 

great bay," where he found " a great store of people which cuors in 
were very kind." The same evening, Argall sailed for the warr's 
Chesapeake, after naming the southern point of the bay in 
which he had anchored, " Cape La Warre." This Cape 
is now known as Cape Henlopen. The bay itself, which 
Hudson, in the Half Moon, had discovered just one year 
before, was soon commonly called by the English " Dela- 
warr's Bay," in honor of the Governor of Virginia ; but, 
notwithstanding received statements, there is no evidence Lord Deia- 
that Lord Delawarr himself ever saw the waters which tuere inm- 
now bear his name.t 

Prosperity at length began to smile on Virginia. But 
Lord Delawarr, finding his health sinking under the cares 
of his office and the effects of the climate, sailed for En- 28 March. 
gland in the spring of 1611; and G-ates having previously rctum.s to 
returned to London,1: the administration of the colonial gov- 

* Lord Delawarr's letter of 7th of July, 1010, in MS. Ilarl. Brit. Museum, 7009, fol. 58, 
printed by the Hakluyt Society ; Purchas, iv., 1754 ; Bancroft, i.. Ml. 

t Argall's Journal, in Purchas, iv., 1762; Strachey's Virginia Britannia, 43 ; De Vrics. 
109, 110. See Appendix, note D. I Winwood's Memorial, iii., 239. 



52 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap 11 emmeiit was committed, during his absence, to Captain 

' Greorge Percy. Soon after Delawarr's departure, Sir Thom- 

■ as Dale, " a worthy and experienced soldier in the Low 

Countries," to whom, at the request of the Prince of "Wales, 

20 January, the Statcs Grcneral had just granted a three years' leave 
of absence from their service to go to Virginia,* arrived at 

20 May. Jamcstown, and assumed the government. Finding that 
the colony needed more assistance, he wrote at once to 
England. Lord Delawarr, on his return home, confirmed 
Dale's accounts ; and, with unusual promptness, the coun- 
cil at London dispatched six ships to Virginia, with three 
hundred new emigrants and large supplies. 

Adminis- Sir Tliomas Grates, who, like Dale, had served in the 

Gates. Netherlands, and, in 1608, had been allowed by the States 
General to resign the commission he held in Holland, " to 
take command in the country of Virginia, and to "colonize 
the same,"t was now sent out with the new expedition, 
invested with full authority as lieutenant governor, and 

August, arrived safely at Jamestown in August. Under his care- 
ful administration, the English settlements on the Chesa- 
peake rapidly prospered, and soon appeared to be firmly 
1613. established. In the summer of 1613, Captain Argall, who 
had been sworn by Lord Delawarr one of the colonial 
council, while on a fishing voyage from Virginia to Nova 

Argall on Scotia, was overtaken by a storm, and driven ashore on the 

the coast of /.■»■■• tt ii ic itt i 

Maine. coast of Maine. Here he learned from the Indians that 
some French colonists had just arrived at the island of 
Mount Desert, a little to the eastward of the Penobscot. 
On this island, the Jesuit missionaries in the company, aft- 
er giving thanks to the Most High, had erected a cross, and 
celebrated a solemn mass. The island itself they had 
His piratic named "Saint Sauveur." Ascertaining the weakness of 
aj pjocee - ^^^ Ppench, Argall hastened to their quiet retreat, and soon 
French * overpowcrcd them by his superior force. De Thet, one of 
S'."" the Jesuit fathers, was killed by a musket-ball ; several 
others were wounded ; " the cross round which the faith- 
ful had gathered was thrown down ;" and Argall returned 

* Hoi. Doc, i., 6. t Ibid., i., 5. See also ante, page 45, note. 



ARGALL ON THE COAST OF MAINE. 53 

to Virginia with eighteen prisoners, and the plunder of a ciur. n. 
peaceful colony, which the pious zeal of Madame de 
Guercheville had sent to America to convert the savages 
to Christianity. 

Gates no sooner received the report of this piratical ad- Arsaii 

* again at 

venture of his subordinate, than, by the advice of his coun- Maine and 

' ' '' . . Nova Sco- 

cil, he determined to undertake a new enterprise agamst na. 
the French in Acadia, and destroy all their settlements 
south of the forty-sixth degree of latitude. Three armed 
vessels were immediately dispatched, under the command 
of Argall ; who, returning to the scene of his former out- 
rage at Mount Desert, set up the arms of the King of En- 
gland, in place of the broken cross of the Jesuits. Argall 
next visited St. Croix, and destroyed the remnants of De 
Monts' former settlement. Thence he sailed to Port Roy- 
al. Meeting no resistance there, Argall loaded his ships 
with the spoil of the ruined town ; and having thus effect- 9 Nov 
ed all his purposes, he returned to Virginia about the mid- 
dle of November."* 

The pretext under which Argall had been dispatched to Pretexts for 

i-i- 1 1 1 r I 1- 1 his piratic- 

gather mglorious laurels on the coasts of Acadia, was the ai proceed- 

alleged encroachment of the French settlers there upon the 
territory comprehended within James's sweeping gi*ant, 
in 1606, to the London and Plymouth adventurers. Gates 
naturally leaned toward the most grasping interpretation 
of an instrument in which he was named first among the 
original grantees of an enormous monopoly. But James's 
patent, nevertheless, distinctly excepted from its purview 
all lands "possessed by any other Christian prince or peo- 
ple ;" and the French had unquestionably been in quiet 
possession of the neighborhood of Acadia two years before 
the first English charter passed the great seal. By his 
second charter of 1609, James had also expressly restrict- 
ed the Virginia Company's northern boundary to a line 
two hundred miles north of Point Comfort, or about the 
fortieth parallel of latitude. The predatory proceedings 
of Gates and Argall were, therefore, entirely unwarranta- 

* Champlain, 101-109; Lescarbot; Bancrort, i., 148. 



§4 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. II. blc j and they were promptly resented by the court of 
France. As soon as intellisrence of the outrasfe reached 



1 r*! Q 

Complaints Europc, the French ambassador at London made a formal 

French am- compkint to the English government. The privy council 

J p^^^jg""" "^^ immediately demanded explanations from the Vii-ginia 

1614. Company ; who excused themselves by stating in reply, 

.lanuary. ^j^^^ they had received no information from Virginia "of 

any such misdemeanors."* 

1613. On his return voyage from Acadia to Virginia, late in 
November. November, Argall is said to have " landed at Manhatas 
Alleged vis- Isle in Hudson's River," where, finding "four houses 

it of Argall ' 770 

to Manhat- jjuilt, and a pretended Dutch governor," he forced the Hol- 
landers to submit themselves to the King of England and 
to the government of Virginia. But this favorite story is 
very suspicious ; it is inconsistent with authentic state 
papers ; it has been deliberately pronounced to be "a pure 
fiction ;" and it certainly needs to be sustained by better 
authority than any that has yet been produced, before it 
can be received as an historical truth.! 

1614. In the spring of 1614, explorations began to be vigor- 
DutciTte-'^ously prosecuted around Manhattan, by the several trading 
covery. ycsscls wliich had been dispatched from Holland. De "Witt, 

sailing up the Mauritius River, in the " Little Fox," gave 
his name to one of the islands near Red Hook^, May, in 
the " Fortune," coasting eastward, beyond the Visscher's 
Hook, or Montauk Point, visited a large " white and clay- 
ey" island, around which Gosnold had sailed twelve years 
before. This island, the Indian name of which was Ca- 
packe, the Dutch for awhile called " the Texel;" but it is 
now known as Martha's Vineyard. t 

By this time, it was perceived that, to secure the larg- 
est return from the peltry trade, a factor should reside per- 
manently on the Mauritius River, among the Maquaas, 
or Mohawks, and the Mahicans, at the head of tide-water. 

* Champlain, 112; Lond. Doc, i., 1, 3; N. Y. Colonial Manuscripts, iii., 1, 2. 

t See Appendix, note E. 

t De Laet.book iii., cap. viii. On Visscher's and Van der Donck's maps of New Noth- 
erland, there is an island in the North River, marked " Jan de Witt's Eylant," just nonh 
of Magdalen Island. Jan de Witt's Island is the small one just south of Upper Red Hook 
landing, or Tivoli ; Magdalen Island is the larger one next below. 



THE YACHT RESTLESS, OF MANHATTAN. §5 

Hendrick Christiaensen, who, after his first experiment in chap. ii. 
company with Adriaen Block, is stated to have made " ten 
voyages" to Manhattan, accordingly constructed a trading chnstiaen- 
liouse on " Castle Island," at the west side of the river, Q-fl^Fonj^H^^- 
little below the present city of Albany. This building, fipp-e'/parl'" 
wliich was meant to combine the double purposes of a"'***^""" 
warehouse and a military defense for the resident Dutch 
traders, was thirty-six feet long, by twenty-six feet wide, 
inclosed by a stockade fifty-eight feet square, and the 
whole surrounded by a moat eighteen feet in width. To 
compliment the family of the stadtholder, the little post 
was immediately named " Fort Nassau." It was armed 
with two large guns, and eleven swivels or patereros, and 
garrisoned by ten or twelve men. " Hendrick Clnristiaen- 
sen first commanded here ;" and, in his absence, Jacob 
Eelkens, formerly a clerk in the counting-house of an Am- 
sterdam merchant.* 

It has been confidently affirmed that the year after the No fon at 

-_ .. __ iTi 1 111^ Manhattan. 

erection of Fort Nassau, at Castle island, a redoubt was 
also throwTi up and fortified "on an elevated spot," near 
the southern point of Manhattan Island. But the assertion 
does not appear to be confirmed by sufficient authority.! 

Adriaen Block had, meanwhile, completed the building Block com- 
of his yacht, which he appropriately named the Ofirust, yacu,"ii\e 
or " Restless." "With this small vessel, about sixteen tons 
in burden, and the first ever constructed by Europeans at 
Manhattan, t Block proceeded to explore the bays and riv- 
ers to the eastward, into which the larger ships of the Dutch 

* Figurative Map, from the archives at the Hague ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii.,27, 38 ; Wasse- 
naar, vi., 144 ; viii., 85 ; De Laet, book iii., cap. ix. ; De Vries, 113 ; IIol. Doc, ii., 136 ; 
Alb. Rec, xxii., 317 ; xxiv., 167 ; Smith's Hist. N. Y., i., 22. Castle Island was the first 
below Albany, and, after 1630, was known as Van Rensselaer's, or Patroon's Island. 
The rapid progress of improvement has, however, now nearly obliterated its former insu- 
lar character, and " annexed" it to the thriving capital of our state. 

t See Appendix, note F. 

t The " Restless" was forty-four and a half feet long, eleven and a half feet wide, and 
of about eight lasts or sixteen tons burden. — De Laet, book iii., cap. x. ; Hoi. Doc, i., 53. 
Mr. Cooper, in his Naval History (i., p. 41), speaks of Block's yacht as "the first decked 
vessel built within the old United States." But the honor of precedence in American na- 
val architecture must, fairly, be yielded to Popham's unfortunate colony on the Kenne- 
beck. The " Virginia, of Sagadahoc," was the first European-built vessel within the 
original Thirteen States — if Maine be considered as part of Massachusetts. The " Rest- 
less, of Manhattan," was the pioneer craft of New York 



;36 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. II. traders had not yet ventured. Sailing boldly through the 
then dano^erous strait of " the Hell-s^ate,"* into "the Great 
g^i3 ■ Bay," or Long Island Sound, he carefully " explored all the 
iicil-gate places thereabout," as far as Cape Cod. Coasting along 
Island""^ the northern shore, inhabited by the Siwanoos, Bloek gave 
Sound. ^YiQ name of " Archipelagos" to the group of islands oppo- 
Discovers sltc Norwalk. At the present town of Stratford, he visit- 

the Ilousa- 

tonic. ed the " River of Roodenberg," or Red Hills, now known 
as the Housatonic, which he described as about " a bow- 
shot wide," and in the neighborhood of which dwelt the 
indolent tribe of Quiripey Indians. Passing eastward 
along the bay at the head of which New Haven now 
stands, and which, on account of the red sandstone hills 
in its neighborhood, the Dutch also soon called the "Roo- 

Expiores dcnbers:," Block came to the mouth of a large river run- 

theConnec- ^^ '^ 

ticut River, ning up northerly into the land. At its entrance into the 
Sound it was " very shallow ;" and Block, observing that 
there were but few inhabitants near its mouth, ascended 
the river to the rapids, at the head of navigation. Near 
Wethersfield, he found the numerous Indian tribe of Se- 
quins. At the latitude of 41° 48' — ^between Hartford and 
Windsor — he came to a fortified village of the Nawaas 
tribe, who were then governed by their Sagamore Mora- 
hieck. Hero he heard of "another nation of savages, who 
are called Horikans," dwelling " within the land," proba- 
bly near the lakes west of the upper part of the river, 
and who navigated the waters "in canoes made of bark." 
From the circumstance that a strong downward current 
was perceived at a short distance above its mouth, Block 
immediately named this beautiful stream the "Versch," 

* " Our people (the Dutch) call this Inferni os, or the Wellc-gai," says the accurate De 
Laet. According to Block's account, as stated by De Laet, the Dutch likewise originally 
called the whole of what was soon more familiarly known as the " East River," by the 
name of the " Holl-gate River ;" and the currents from that river and from the North Riv- 
er arc described as "meeting one another near Nutten (Governor's) Island." A branch 
of the Scheldt, near Ilulst, in Zealand, is called the " Ilellegat," after which Clock proba- 
bly named the whirlpool through which he was the first known European pilot. Mod- 
ern squeamishness has endeavored to improve this expressive hi torioal appellation into 
" Ilurl-gate." But while modern science has overcome the nautical terrors of old Ilell- 
gate, it is to be hoped that u vicious modern conceit will not prevail to rob us of one of the 
few remaining memorial names of early New York. 



1611. 



BLOCK EXPLORES LONG ISLAND SOUND. 57 

or Fresh Water River. By the native savages it was call- chap, ii 
ed the " Connittecock," or Q,uonehtacut ; and the aborig- 
inal appellation survives to the present day, in the name 
of the river and the state of Connecticut.* 

Continuing his course eastward from the mouth of the uiock jis- 

covers lilt 

Connecticut, Block came to the "River of the Siccana- Thames 
mos," afterward called by the English the Pequod or 
Thames River, where he found the powerful tribe of Pe- 
quatoos or Pequods, who were " the enemies of the Wapa- 
noos," in possession of the country. From there, stretch- 
ing "over across the Sound," he visited the " Visscher's 
Hoeck," or " Cape de Baye," now known as Montauk 
Point, which he discovered to be the eastern extremity of 
" Sewan-hacky," or Long Island, "on which a nation of 
savages, who are called Matouwacks, have their abode." 
A little to the northeast of Montauk Point, he next visited visits 
a large island, to which the Dutch immediately gave the and." 
name of " Block's Island," in honor of their countryman.! 
Thence, following the track of Verazzano, Block ran 
across to Nassau, or Narragansett Bay, which he thorough- 
ly explored. The western entrance was named " Sloup 
Bay," and the eastern " Anchor Bay ;" while " an island 

* Do Laet, viii. ; IIol. Doc, vii., 72 ; Verbael van Bevcniinck, 607 ; Winthrop, i., 52. 
Trumbull, in his History of Connecticut (i., p. 31), affirms that "none of the ancient ad- 
venturers, who discovered the great continent of North America, or New England, made 
any discovery of this river. It does not appear that it was known to any civilized nation 
until some years after the settlement of the English and Dutch at Plymouth and New 
Netherland." Yet Hubbard (Mass. Coll., xv., 18, 170) distinctly states that the Dutch 
first discovered it ; and if Trumbull had consulted the accurate details of De Laet, he 
would have found the clearest evidence that Block explored not only the river, but the 
whole coast of Connecticut, in 1614, or six years before the first Puritan English colonists 
landed at Plymouth Rock. Bancroft, ii., 273, following Hubbard, says that " the discov- 
ery of Connecticut River is undoubtedly due to the Dutch." It would have been safe to 
have added that Block was " its first European navigator." 

t It has been usual to consider Block as the first discoverer of the island which still 
bears his name. But while we thus honor the memory of the explorer of Long Island 
.Sound, we should not forget to do justice to his predecessor Verazzano, who, in 1524, after 
sailing along the Atlantic coast of Long Island (which he took to be the main land), for 
fifty leagues eastward from Sandy Hook, " discovered an island of a triangular form, 
about ten leagues from the main land, in size about equal to the island of Rhodes." This 
island, which was undoubtedly Block Island, Verazzano named " Claudia," in honor of 
the mother of King Francis I. It is so laid down in Lock's map of 1582.— Ilakluyt So- 
ciety's " Divers Voyages," 55, 64 ; N. Y. II. S. Coll., i., 53 ; i. (second series), 40, 49. The 
editor of Ilakluyt, however, though he seems unable to reconcile Verazzano's account 
with the supposition that " Claudia" was Martha's Vineyard, does not appear to have 
thought of Block Island. 



58 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. II. of a reddish appearance" was observed lying within. This 
was soon known by the Dutch as "Roode" or Red Island, 
Ex lores' ^^^^^ which is derived the name of the present State of 
(JanfenDay R^ocle Island. Along the western shore of the bay dwelt 
fsiaiS'*"'*^ the tribe of Wapanoos, whom Block described as " strong 
of limb and of moderate size," but somewhat shy, "since 
they are not accustomed to trade with strangers." Run- 
ning out of the Narragansett, he stood across the mouth 
of Buzzard's Bay to the southward of the Elizabeth Isl- 
ands, formerly visited by Grosnold, and sailed by the large 
" white and clayey" island, commonly called " Texel" by 
the Dutch, and " Capacke" by others, and which is now 
known as Martha's Vineyard. South of the Texel, Block 
Visits Mar- observed another small island, which he immediately 
yard. ' ^ named " Hendrick Christiaensen's Island," in compliment 
to his early comrade. This island, which Gosnold had 
discovered, and named Martha's Vineyard, is now called 
" No Man's Land ;" while, with a happier fate. Block Isl- 
and, retaining to this day the name which the Dutch first 
gave it, preserves the memory of the hardy pioneer of 
Long Island Sound. 

Sailing onward through the "Zuyder Zee," to the north 
of the island of "Vlieland," or Nantucket, Block passed 
near the " Vlacke Hoeck," or Cape Malebarre, and ran 
along the shore of Cape Cod, until he reached its northern 
Block pass- point, wMch he named "Cape Bevechier." Thence he 
cfod.*'"' coasted along the " Fuyok," or ""Wyck Bay," or " Staten 
Bay" — which names the Dutch gave to the waters now 
known as Cape Cod Bay — and explored the shore of Mas- 
sachusetts as far north as "Pye Bay, as it is called by some 
of our navigators, in latitude 42° 30', to which the limits 
of New Netherland extend." This Pye Bay is now known 
Visits Hos- as Nahant Bay, iust north of Boston harbor, and, at the 

ion harbor ■ -r,, , ^ 

and Na- timc Block first visited it, "a numerous people' dwelt 
there, who were " extremely well-looking, but timid and 
shy of Christians," so that it required " some address to 
approach them."* 

* De Laet, book iii., cap. viii. ; ayite, p. 54; ii. N. Y. II. S. Coll., i., 292-297. It l^. 



hint 



BLOCK RETURNS TO HOLLAND. 59 

On his return from Pye Bay to Cape Cod, Block fell in chap. ii 
with the ship of Hendrick Christiaensen, which seems, 
meanwhile, to have been sent around from Manhattan to ^3,^^^ ' 
the northward. Leaving there his yacht, the Restless, Relulgg'^t 
which had already done such good service, in charge of and re?unls 
Cornelis Hendricksen, to make further explorations on the'""""*"'^" 
coast. Block embarked in his old companion's ship, the For- 
tune, and returned with her to Holland, to report the dis- 
coveries which he and his fellow-navigators had made in 
the New World* 

In the mean time, the States General, anxious to encour- 
age the foreign commerce of Holland, had granted, early 27 January 
in 1614, a liberal charter to an association of merchants. The 
for prosecuting the whale fishery in the neighborhood of Company- 
Nova Zembla, and the exploration of a new passage to by the 

. . , . , 1 1 TV? 1 Stales Gen 

Chma. Of this association, which was named "the North- erai. 
ern Company," Lambrecht van Tweenhuysen, one of the 
owners of Block's ship, was an original director ; and 
among his subsequent associates were Samuel G-odyn, 
Nicholas Jacobsen Haringcarspel, and Thymen Jacobsen 
Hinlopen, whose names have also become historical in our 
annals. t 

The importance of a similar concession of privileges in 
favor of the merchants, at whose expense new avenues of 
trade were now being explored in the neighborhood of Man- 
hattan, was soon perceived; and the States of Holland 20 March* 
were petitioned to recommend the general government to 
pass an ordinance which should assure to all enterprising 
adventurers a monopoly, for a limited time, of the trade 

clear that Block sailed beyond Cape Cod to Pye Bay, as he gives its distance from the 
Lixard by his observations. See also the " Figurative Map," or chart, found in the archives 
at the Hague (no doubt the one to which Dc Lact refers on page 294), upon which Plym- 
outh harbor is marl<ed as " Crane Bay," and Boston harbor as " Fox Haven," while 
Salem Bay is called " Count llendrick's Bay" (Appendix, note G). The same designa- 
tions are retained upon Vissclier's and Montanus's maps, which also lay down " Pye Bay" 
as near Nahant. The latitude of Nahant is 42° 30', which corresponds precisely with 
that of " Pye Bay," as given by De Laet. 

* De Laet, book iii., cap. x. ; IIoI. Doc, i., 53-59. De Laet, after stating Block's ex- 
ploration of the neighborhood of Cape Cod, in the Restless, adds, " whence ho returned 
home with the ship of Hendrick Christiaensen, and left the yacht there on the coa.st for 
farther use." Tlw translation in N. Y. H. S. Coll. (second series), i., 301, is inexact. 
Muilkerk, A, 23, suggests that Cornells Hendricksen was a son of Hendrick Christiaensen. 

t Groot Placaatbook, i., 670 ; Wassenaar, vii., 95 ; viii., 95 ; ix., 124. 



60 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

(HAr. II. with the lands they might discover. The States Greneral 
accordingly passed the desired ordinance, declaring it to 
•i7 March ^^ " honorablc, useful, and profitable," that the people of 
(ieiierai the Netherlands should be encouraged to adventure them- 
ibr the en- sclvcs in discoveriug unknown countries ; and, for the pur- 
inentof posc of making the inducement " free and common to ev- 

nt*\v dis- 

.overies. ery onc of the inhabitants," granting and conceding that 
" whosoever shall from this time forward discover any new 
passages, havens, lands, or places, shall have the exclusive 
right of navigating to the same for fovir voyages." The 
ordinance also required that reports of such discoveries 
should be made to the States G-eneral within fourteen days 
after the return of the exploring vessels, in order that the 
promised specific trading privileges should be formally pass- 
ed, in each case, to the adventurers appearing to be enti- 
tled to them ; and that if simultaneous discoveries should 
be made by diflferent parties, the promised monopoly should 
be enjoyed by them in common.* 

September. Upou Block's arrival at Amsterdam with the details of 
the Dutch explorations on the coast of America, the mer- 
chants of North Holland, whose enterprise had been re- 
warded by such interesting results, hastened to appropriate 
to themselves the advantageous trade opened to them there, 
and to exclude all other rivalry. Uniting themselves into 

Amsterdam a Company, they took the necessary steps to obtain the 

Company spccial privilcgcs which werc promised in the Greneral Or- 
dinance of the 27th of March. A skillful draughtsman 
was employed to construct an elaborately finished " Fig- 
urative Map" of their transatlantic discoveries, which was 
probably prepared under Block's immediate supervision, 
and from the data that he furnished. t The associates 
then deputed some of their number to go to the Hague, 
and lay before the States General an account of their dis- 
coveries in America, and to obtain the desired special and 
exclusive license to trade to those regions. 

The deputies, probably accompanied by Block, accord- 

* llol. Doc. 1., 15, 19 ; Groot Placaatbook, i., 563. 
t See Appendix, note G, for a description or this map. 



lormed. 



THE BINNENHOF AT THE HAGUE. 61 

ingly proceeded to the capital. Unlike other Dutch cit- chap. ii. 
ies, the Hague owed its importance, not to commerce or \ 
manufactures, but to having early been made the seat of jjep^j,^^ ' 
government of the United Provinces, and to the constant jj^^J"'^'" 
presence of the officers of state and the foreign ministers 
accredited to the republic. For four centuries the abode 
of the counts of Holland, it derives its name from the 
" Haeg" or hedge encircling the magnificent park which 
formed their ancient hunting ground, and the majestic 
trees in which, at this day, attract the admiration of Eu- 
rope. On an artificial island in the centre of that beauti- 
ful town — its long fagade bordering the quiet lake which 
fronts the Vyverberg — stands a straggling pile of build- 
ings, of irregular forms and of various eras, surrounding a 
vast quadrangle, quaintly paved with small yellow bricks, 
and inclosing a lofty and venerable hall, the rival of "West- 
minster, formerly hung round with trophies of the victo- 
rious confederacy, and in which were held the solemn and 
extraordinary meetings of the States Greneral. Spacious 
galleries and corridors, now consecrated to the preservation 
of the archives of the Netherlands, stretch over long ar- 
cades and gilded apartments, the faded magnificence of 
which yet attests the former splendor of the republic, when 
her calm statesmen sat there in the days of her pomp and 
power. This is the " Binnenhof," or inner court — the an- Tiie nin- 
cient palace of the counts of Holland. Here the States 
General constantly held their ordinary meetings, in a su- 
perbly-decorated apartment facing the old Gothic Hall : 
their clerk or "greffier" occupying a small, meagerly-fur- 
nished adjoining closet, where ambassadors were frequent- 
ly received, and the weightiest affairs of state transacted. 

Hither came the deputies of the Amsterdam Company interview 
to tell their story of adventure and discovery, and to ask states ocn- 
the reward promised to their successful enterprise. Around 
the oval council-table sat twelve " high, mighty lords" of 
the States General. One of the assembly was John van 
Olden Barneveldt, the Advocate of Holland. Spreading 
upon the council-board the " Figurative Map" of their 



62 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. II. transatlantic discoveries, the petitioners related to the 

~ statesmen of Holland the adventures of their aarents in 
1614 • • 

the New World ; and, detailing the " heavy expenses and 

damages" they had suffered during the current year 
" from the loss of ships and other great risks," they asked 
a special and exclusive license to trade to the regions 
which they had explored. The assembled statesmen list- 
ened to the narrative with interest and favor. Dutch com- 
mercial enterprise had now achieved the exploration of 
unknown and extensive regions in North America, which 
might soon become of great political importance to the re- 
public. These regions were sparsely inhabited by various 
roving tribes of aboriginal savages, who had already shown 
kindness to the Hollanders. No Europeans but the Dutch 
traders were in possession of any part of the territory. 
Why should not the Amsterdam Company now receive 
their promised charter ? The States G-eneral promptly 
complied with the prayer of their countrymen ; and the 
u October, grefficr, Cornelius Aerssen, at once drew up the minvite of 
cri'and'for- ^ spccial trading license or charter, the original of which 
(TbythT yet records, in almost illegible characters, the first ap- 
erai'^''^""pearance of the term "New Netherland" in the annals of 
the world. The formal instrument, bearing date the 11th 
of October, 1614, was immediately afterward duly sealed 
and attested ; and thus the government of the United 
Provinces, by its solemn act, officially designated the un- 
occupied regions of America lying between Virginia and 
Canada by a name which they continued to bear for half 
a century, until, in the fullness of time, right gave way to 
power, and the Dutch colony of New Netherland became 
the English province of New York.* 

* Holland Documents, i., 42, 47. • This special charter was brought to light by the re- 
searches made in the archives at the Hague, in 1841, by direction of the government of 
this state. Do Laet, however, who wrote in 1G24, refers to it in chapter vii., in general 
terms, and without giving its exact date, as granting an " exclusive privilege" of navi- 
gating to and trading at New Netherland. Yet Chalmers, in the teeth of De Laet's state- 
ments, asserts, that when the Dutch West India Company was finally established in 1621, 
" neither any plantation nor the name of New Netherland at that time had any exist- 
ence." — Pol. An., 569. But the whole of the first part of this biased author's chapter re- 
lating to New York, as has already been intimated, abounds in gross misrepresentations, 
some of which have been too eagerly adopted by American writers. 



I 



THE NEW NETHERLAND CHARTER OF 1614. 63 

The special charter thus granted by the States General chap. ii. 
licensed the memorialists "exclusively, to visit and navi- 
gate to the aforesaid newly-discovered lands lying in Ameri- provisions 
ca, between New France and Virginia, the sea-coasts where- Iv^hoHami 
of extend from the fortieth to the forty-fifth degree of lati- '^'^*"'''"- 
tude, now named Nkw Netherland (as is to be seen on 
the Figurative Map prepared by them), for four voyages 
within the period of three years, commencing on the first 
day of January, 1615, next ensuing, or sooner ;" and it ex- 
pressly interdicted all other persons, directly or indirectly, 
from sailing out of the United Provinces to those newly- 
discovered regions, and from frequenting the same within 
the three years reserved, under pain of confiscation of ves- 
sels and cargoes, and a fine of fifty thousand Netherland 
ducats to the benefit of the grantees of the charter.* 

At the time the Dutch government perfected the New views of 
Netherland charter, the discovery and possession of Canada GCTcrai in 
and Acadia by the French was notorious ; and the patent the char- 
which James I. had granted to the London and Plymouth 
Companies had likewise, for eight years, been known to 
the world. British colonists had already partially occu- 
pied Virginia, the title of England to which the Dutch 
never questioned. The States G-eneral themselves had 
officially recognized it, in permitting Gates and Dale to 
leave their service to go thither, and in making overtures 
to join with England in that colony. Upon the Figura- 
tive Map of New Netherland, referred to in the charter of 
1614, New France was represented as extending north- 
ward of the forty-fifth degree, and Virginia southward of 
the fortieth degree. The Dutch discoveries were defined 

* The charter sets forth the names of the grantees, and of their vessels and captains, as 
follows : " Gerrit Jacobsen Witsen, former burgomaster of the city of Amsterdam ; Jonas 
Witsen, and Simon Monisen, owners of the ship the ^Little Fox,' Captain Jan de Witt ; 
Hans Ilongers, Paulus Pelgrom, and Lambrecht van Tweenhuysen, owners of the two 
ships named the ' Tiger' and the ' Fortune,' whose captains are Adriaen Block and Hen- 
drick Christiaensen ; Arnoudt van Lybergen, Wessel Schenck, Hans Claessen, and Barcnt 
Swectscn, owners of the ship named the 'Nightingale,' whose captain is Thys Volckert- 
sen, merchants of the aforesaid city of Amsterdam ; and Pieter Clemcntsen Brouwer, Jan 
Clementsen Kies, and Cornelis Volckertscn, merchants of the city of Hoorn, owners of 
the ship named the ' Fortune,' whose captain is Cornelis Jacobsen May." — Hoi. Doc, i., 
4". Sec also Address before N. Y. Historical Society, 1844, Appendi.x, p. 53 ; and O'Cal- 
laghan's New Netherland, i., 75. 



64 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. II. in that charter, as lying between New France and Vir- 

einia, and the sea-coasts of New Netherland were declared 
1 r" 1 /I 

' to extend from the fortieth to the forty-fifth degree of lat- 
itude. This intermediate region, which Block and his 
comrades had described as inhabited only by aboriginal 
savage tribes, was yet " unoccupied by any Christian 
prince or state." The Plymouth Company, by the pat- 
ent of 1606, were merely authorized to begin a colony at 
any convenient place between the thirty-eighth and forty- 
fifth degrees of latitude ; were promised all the land ex- 
tending along the sea-coast, fifty miles on each side of 
" the first seat of their plantation," and one hundred miles 
into the interior ; and were assured that they should not 
be molested by any British subjects. After the return of 
their dispirited colonists from the Sagadahoc, in 1608, that 
company had seemed to relinquish any further attempts 
to settle emigrants within the limits assigned to them by 
the patent; under which, in fact, no subsequent English 
colonization ever took place. Though British fishing ves- 
sels continued to resort to that neighborhood, the country 
New En- itsclf was cstcemed as " a cold, barren, mountainous, rocky 
teemed a desart," and was declared to be "not habitable" by En- 
glishmen.* In the same summer that Block was explor- 
ing Long Island Sound and the regions to the north and 
east. Smith was visiting the bays and coasts of Maine and 
Massachusetts ; and the Crown Prince of Grreat Britain was 
confirming the name of " New England," which Smith 
had given to the territories north of Cape Cod, about the 
very time that the States G-eneral were passing their first 
charter of trading privileges to the " Directors of New 
Netherland." But New England, though it had a nom- 
inal existence, w^as yet uncolonized in any part. Its re- 
cent name had not oven reached the ears of the Dutch 
statesmen at the Hague. They might justly have con- 
New Ncth- sidercd the territory which they now formally named 
"lacuum "New Netherland" as a '■^vacuum domicilium^'''' fairly 
um"'oVen open to Dutch enterprise and occupation. In granting 

to the 

Dutch. ♦ Hazard, i., 50-58 ; Smith, Gen. Hist., ii., 174 ; Mass. Hist. Coll., xxvi., 56. 



BLOCK IN THE ARCTIC OCEAN. ^ 

the cliartcr of 1614, the States General certainly excr- ckap. ii. 
ciseil a distinct act of sovereignty over that territory by 
giving it the name of New Netherland. But while they ■'■"■^'*- 
specifically defined the boundaries of their grant as in- 
cluding the regions "between New France and Virginia," 
they only assured to the associated merchants, whose en- 
ter}3rise had been rewarded by important discoveries, a 
monopoly of the trade of that country against the compe- 
titi(5n of other Dutcli subjects, without for the present as- 
serting the right to exclude the rest of the world. 

After the procurement of the New Netherland charter. 
Block's connection with American discovery ceased. Van 
Tweenhuysen, who had been one of the joint owners of 
" the Tiger," was anxious to secure the services of his en- 
terprising captain for the newly-organized " Northern Com- 
pany," and offered him the command of some vessels to be 
employed in the whale-fishery near Spitzbergen. Block 
accepted his patron's proposition, and sailed for the Arctic Block saua 
Ucean early m lb 15.* He does not appear to have ever tic ocean, 
revisited the scenes of his successful adventures on the 
coasts of America. Of all the early followers of Hudson 
in the exploration of New Netherland, the honored names 
of only two are now commemorated by Block Island and 
Cape May ; yet the annalist of commercial New York will 
ever gratefully record the " Restless" as the pioneer ves- 
sel launched by white men upon her waters, and as her 
fiiiit ship-builder, Adriaen Block. 

* Wassenaar, viii., 95. 

E 



6g HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



CHAPTER III. 

1615-1620. 

Chap. HI. Thb Holland merchants, who had obtained from the 

States General the exclusive ri^ht of tradinsr for three 

loio. ygaj.g ^Q ]\few Netherland, though united too^ether in one 

The New J ? o o 

N^eriand company to secure the grant of their charter, were not 
strictly a corporation, but rather "participants" in a spe- 
cific, limited, and temporary monopoly, which they were 
to enjoy in common. No Dutch vessels might visit the 
coasts of America, between Barnegat and Nova i^cotia, 
except those belonging to the grantees of the charter, who 
resided at Amsterdam and Hoorn, in North Holland. But 
these grantees were intrusted with no political powers for 
the government of New Netherland. The objects they 
had chiefly in view were traflSc and discovery ; and to pro- 
mote these objects the States G-eneral had sealed their 
charter. Agricultural colonization was not their present 
purpose ; and their few men in garrison at Castle Island 
were rather armed traders, holding formal possession of an 
unoccupied territory, than emigrants to subdue a wilder- 
ness. 
Murder of Not loug aftcr Cliristiacnsen had completed Fort Nas- 
Christiaen- sau, the first murder recorded after Hudson's voyage oc- 
curred in New Netherland. The two young savages, Or- 
son and Valentine, who had been carried to Holland, were 
soon afterward safely restored to their native country. 
They were described, as " very stupid, yet adepts enough 
in knavery." Of the two, Orson seems to have been the 
most mischievous : " an exceedingly malignant wretch, 
who was the cause of Hendrick Christiaensen's death," is 



DEATH OF HENDRICK CHRISTIAENSEN. 67 

Wassenaar's quaint record. No motive is assigned for the chap. hi. 
murder, which, however, the Hollanders speedily avenged ; ""TT 
and the treacherous Orson " was repaid with a bullet as 
his reward."* 

Meanwhile, Jacob Eelkens continued actively employed EeHtans 

. -J I J prosecutes 

in prosecuting a quiet tramc with the Mohawk and Mahi- tie indan 
can Indians about Castle Island, and in collecting valu- 
able cargoes of furs, which, from time to time, were sent 
in shallops down the river to Manhattan, for shipment to 
Holland. Scouting parties were, at the same time, con- 
stantly engaged in exploring all the neighboring country, 
and in becoming better acquainted with the savage tribes 
which surrounded them; with all of whom it was the con- 
stant policy of the Dutch to cultivate the most friendly 
relations. 

While the sober spirit of commercial Holland was thus ThcPrenen 

, . ^ 1 1 1 "" Lakes 

quietly searchmsr out new avenues for trade alonsr the ontaTio 

^ T T 1 1 andOfioR- 

coasts of Long Island Sound, and on the borders of thciaga. 
Mauritius River, the more impetuous spirit of chivalrous 
France was intrepidly exploring the waters of Lake Onta- 
rio, and invading the territories of the " Konoshioni," or 
Iroquois, t near the valley of Onondaga. After discovering 
the lovely inland waters which perpetuate his name, Cham- 
plain thrice revisited France ; and having engaged some 
wealthy merchants of Saint Malo, Rouen, and Rochelle, 1614. 
to form an association for the colonization of Canada, he 
obtained, through the influence of the viceroy. Prince de 
Conde, a ratification of the contract by the king. Setting 
sail from Honfleur early in the spring of 1615, he soon 1615. 
reached Tadoussac, accompanied by four Recollet mission-^*****' 
aries, who were the first ministers of Christianity settled 
in Canada. t On his arrival at Montreal, Champlain found 

* Wasscnaar, viii., 85 ; ix., 44 ; Doc. Hist., N. Y., iii., 38, 41. 

t The Five Conreiieratcd Nations of New York Indians. " Le nom d'iROQuois est pure- 
ment Francois, et a 616 form6 du terme Hiro, ou Hero, que signifie j'aj (lit; et par lequel 
ces sauvages finissent tous leurs disi-oura, comme les Latins faisoient autrefois, par leur 
dijci ; et de Koue, qui est un cri, tant6t de tristesse, lorsqu'on le prononce en tralnant, et 
tantot de joie, lorsqu'on le prononce plus court. Lnur nom propre est Agonnonxionni, qui 
veut dire Faiseiirs de OnAanries."— Charlevoix, i., p. 271. According to Clinton and School- 
craft, their name was Kenunctioni, or Konoshioni. 

t Champlain, 181-240. Jesuit missionaries, as we liave seen (ante, p. 52), were set- 



^ HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

jKhap. III. the Hurons and their allies preparing for an expedition 
""T" against their ancient enemies, the Iroquois. Anxious to 
■ reconnoitre the hostile territory, and also to secure the 
friendship of the Canadian savages, the gallant Frenchman 
resolved to accompany their w^arriors. After visiting the 
tribes at the head-waters of the Ottavi^a, and discovering 
Lake Huron, w^hich, because of its " great extent," he 
named " La Mer Douce," Champlain, attended by an arm- 
ed party of ten Frenchmen, accordingly set out toward 
isept the south, with his Indian allies. Enraptured with the 
" very beautiful and pleasant country" through which 
they passed, and amusing themselves with fishing and 
hunting, as they descended the chain of " Shallow Lakes," 
which discharge their waters through the River Trent, the 
expedition reached the banks of Lake Ontario.* 
October. Crossing the end of the lake "at the outlet of the great 
River Saint Lawrence," and passing by many beautiful 
islands on the way, the invaders followed the eastern shore 
of Ontario, for fourteen leagues, toward their enemy's coun- 
try. In the vicinity of the present village of Henderson, 
Qampiain in the couuty of Jefferson, the party landed, and the sav- 
jefferson Rges hid all their canoes in the woods near the bank of 
the lake. After proceeding about four leagues, over a 
sandy tract, Champlain remarked " a very agreeable and 
beautiful country, traversed by several small streams and 
two little rivers which empty into the lake." These riv- 
ers were the Big and Little Sandy Creeks, and the "beau- 
tiful country" was the northern edge of the present coun- 
ty of Oswego. Leaving the shores of the lake, the in- 
vaders continued their route inland to the southward, for 
twenty-live or thirty leagues. For four days they pressed 
onward, meeting no foes, and crossing in their way a num- 
ber of rivulets, and a river forming the outlet of Oneida 
Lake; which Champlain described as "twenty-five or thir- 
ty leagues in circuit, in which there are beautiful islands, 

Ocd in Maine and Nova Scotia several year.s before this ; but Champlain now first intro- 
duced the Recollct, or Franciscan father-s, into Canada. 
* " Le Lac dcs Enloulionorons," Champlain, 254 ; fioucbette's British America, i., S4. 



CHAMPLAIN IN ONONDAGA. Q9 

and where our Iroquois enemies oatch their fish, which are Ch*R b& 
very abundant." Here the Canadians captured eleven Ir- 
oquois, who had come about four leagues from their fort9Qgjg(^* 
to fish in the Oneida Lake. Among the prisoners were 
four squaws. Preparations were immediately made for 
the usual savage tortures ; but Champlain humanely pro*- 
testing against the cruelty of his allies, as " not the act 
of a warrior," succeeded in saving the lives of the women'^ 
though the men all suffered death. 

In the afternoon of the next day the expedition arrived The im- 

-If 1 r -r ^ -ii tit • i <luoiB rastto 

before the lortmed village ot the Iroquois, on the northern at onond*- 

. ga attaok- 

bank of the Onondaga Lake, near the site of the presented, 
town of Liverpool.* The village was inclosed by four 
rows of palisades, made of large pieces of timber closely 
interlaced. The stockade was thirty feet high, with galv 
leriics running around like a parapet, which were garnish- 
ed with double pieces of wood, arquebuse-proof ; and the 
fortification stood close by a " pond where water was nev- 
er wanting." 

Some skirmishing took place as soon as the invadera 
reached the Onondaga Fort ; though their first design waa 
not to discover themselves until the next morning. But 
the impatience of the savages overcame their prudence. 
They were anxious to see the effect of the fire-arms of their 
French allies ; and Champlain, advancing with his little d^ 
tachment against the Onondagas, quickly " showed them 
what they had never seen or heard before." As soon as 
the Iroquois heard the reports of the arquebuses, and felt 
the balls whistling about their ears, they nimbly took ref- 
uge within their fort, carrying with them their killed and 
wounded. The assailing party then fell back upon their 
main body, with five or six wounded ; one of whom diedi, 

♦ "This Iroquois fort was on the shore of Onondaga Lake ; and it is highly probable 
that it was on the ground subseciuently occupied by Sieur Dupuis, in 1665, and also by 
Count Frontenac in his expsditioii against the Onondagas, in 1696, and by Colonel Van 
Schaick in 1779." — Clark's Hist, of Onondaga, i., 256. The spot is marked on Cham- 
plain's Map very distinctly. Every geographical detail in Champlain's work seems to 
confirm the opinion of Clark and Marshall that the lake must have been the Onondaga; 
and thai it could not have been the Canandaigua, as assumed in a note on page 16, lii. 
Doc. Hist., N. Y. 



70 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Ohae. ni. Contrary to Champlain's advice, the invaders now re- 
treated a cannon's shot from the fort. This provoked his 
■ earnest remonstrances ; and his genius soon suggested a , 
plan of attack, borrowed from the ancient modes of war- " I 
fare. A movable tower, in which four French marksmen 
could be placed, was to be constructed, sufficiently high 
to command the palisades ; and while the besieged Iro- 
quois were thus securely picked off, the stockade itself was 
to be set on fire. The plan was promptly approved of by 
the Canadians, who commenced the work the next day, 
and labored with such diligence that the tower was com- 
pleted in four hours. They then wished to wait for a re- 
inforcement of five hundred men which they expected; 
but Champlain, judging that delay in most cases is prej- 
udicial, pressed them to attack the fort at once. 

2 October. The invadcrs, yielding to his arguments, followed his 
advice. The tower was carried, by two hundred men, to 
within a pike's length from the stockade ; and four arque- 
busiers, well protected from arrows and stones, began to fire 
on the invested Iroquois. The besieged savages at first 
answered with warm discharges of arrows ; but the fatal 
balls of the French marksmen soon drove them from their 
galleries. Champlain now directed the Hurons to set fire 
to the stockade. But instead of obeying, they began to 
shout at the enemy, and discharge ineffective flights of ar- 
rows into the fort. Ignorant of discipline, and impatient 
of control, each savage did as he liked. At length they 
lit a fire, on the wrong side of the fort, contrary to the 
wind, so that it produced no effect. The besiegers then 
began to pile wood against the palisades, though in such 
small quantity that it did little good. The noise now be- 
came overpowering. Champlain attempted to warn the 
savages against the results of their bad judgment ; but the 
gi'eat confusion prevented him from being heard. Per- 
ceiving that he was only " splitting his head by crying 
out," he directed the remainder of his French party to fire 
upon the besieged. Many of the Iroquois were killed ; but, 
observing the disorder of their assailants, they poured wa- 



THE CANADIAN INVADERS REPULSED. 71 

ter from the gutters in sneh abundance, that every spark Chap. hi. 
of fire was soon extinguished. Meanwhile they discharged ~ 

incessant flights of arrows, which fell upon the besiegers 
like hail. The combat lasted about four hours. Two of 
the Huron chiefs and fifteen warriors were wounded. The cann- 
Champlain himself was twice severely injured by arrows ; ers re- 
and the repulsed besiegers retreated to their encampment. 

Here they remained inactive several days. No argu- 
ments of Champlain could induce the Hurons to renew 
the attack until their expected re-enforcement of five hund- 
red men should arrive from Canada. A few skirmishes 
occurred ; but whenever the Iroquois saw the French ar- 
quebusiers approaching, they promptly retreated within 
their fort. At length the invaders, tired of waiting for 
their re-enforcements, broke up the siege, contrary to Cham- le October 
plain's earnest remonstrance, and began their retreat. The 
gallant Frenchman, himself disabled by his wounds from 
walking, was placed in a frame of wicker-work, and car- 
ried for several days on the backs of the savages. The 
Iroquois pursued their enemies for half a league, but the 
retreat was conducted in such good order that the invaders 
suffered no loss. 

In a few days the party reached the spot where they 20 October 
had hidden their canoes on the shore of Lake Ontario, and 
were overjoyed to find that they had not been discovered 
and destroyed by the Iroquois. Champlain was now anx- 
ious to return to Montreal by way of the Saint Lawrence, Return of 
over the upper waters of which no European had yetlionTi* 
passed. But his savage allies refused to furnish him with 
a promised guide and canoe ; and he was obliged to ac- 
company them home, an vmwilling guest, and pass a 
dreary winter in the Huron country. The following 
spring Champlain set out on his return, and, after forty 1616. 
days travel, reached the French settlements toward the^ '^^' 
end of June. His countrymen received him with joy, as june. 
one risen from the grave ; for the savages had long before 
reported him dead.* 

♦ Voyagca de Champlain, 240-306 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii., 10-17. See also an interest- 



72 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

CHAP. in. Thus the French were the first Europeans who visited 
~ two of the magnificent lakes which partially bound the 
territories of New York. Almost contemporaneously with 
Hudson's exploration of the great River of the Mountains, 
Champlain had discovered those beautiful waters on our 
northeastern frontier which now bear his brilliant name. 
Six years later, the adventurous Frenchman, again the first 
of Europeans, was coasting along the southern shore of 
Lake Ontario, and penetrating the valley of Onondaga. 
But the progress of French discovery was the progress of 
French arms. The exploring voyages of Hudson and his 
followers were visits of peaceful agents of commercial Hol- 
land in search of new avenues for trade, and intent chief- 
ly on its rewards. No predatory movements marked their 
onward way. Enterprising and patriotic, they were dis- 
creet and humane. If blood was early shed, it was shed 
in retaliation, or to repel attack. But the expeditions of 
Champlain were incursions of bold adventurers from gal- 
lant France, seeking trophies of victory in the unknown 
territories of the Iroquois. The placid waters of Lakes 
Champlain and Onondaga were alike stained by unoffend- 
ing native blood ; and the roar of the few French arque- 
buses which first echoed through the frontier forests of New 
Netherland, but preluded the advance, in after years, of 
serried battalions over northern New York, bearing to bat- 
tle and conquest the triumphant lilies of the Bourbon. 
ABoriginai The Valley of the " Cahohatatea,"* or Mauritius River, 
the North at the time Hudson first ascended its waters, was inhab- 
ited, chiefly, by two aboriginal races of Algonquin lineage, 
afterward known among the English colonists by the ge- 
neric names of Mohegans and Mincees. The Dutch gen- 
erally called the Mohegans, Mahicans ; and the Mincees, 

Ing paper on this subject, by O. II. Marshall, of Buffalo, in N. Y. II. S. Proceedings for 
1849, p. 9G-I03 ; and Clark's Onondaga, i., 251-256. 

♦ The Iroquois name of the North or Hudson River, upon the authority of Mr. John 
Bleeckcr, of Albany, "the ancient Indian interpreter, now (1810) in the 79th year of his 
age." See letter of Dr. Mitchill lo Dr. Miller, dated Albany, 3i\ March, 1810, in N. Y. 11. 
S. Coll., i., p. 43. See also Schoolcraa, in N. Y. II. S. Proc, 18-14, p. 94. The Mahicans 
called it the " Shatemuc ;" while the Dclawares and other soutliern tribes, according to 
Ueckeweider, named it the " Mahican-ittuk," or place of the Mahicans. 



LONG ISLAND AND NEW JERSEY TRIBES. 73 

Sanhikans. These two tribes were subdivided into nu- chap. la 
merous minor bands, each of which had a distinctive name. ^ 
The tribes on the east side of the river were generally 
Mohegans ; those on the west side, Mincees. They were 
hereditary enemies ; and across the waters which formed 
the natural boundary between them, war-parties frequent- 
ly passed, on expeditions of conquest and retribution. But 
however much the tribes of River Indians were at va- 
riance among themselves, they were sympathetic in their 
enmity against the powerful Iroquois, or the Five Confed- 
erated Nations, whose hunting-grounds extended over the 
magnificent regions, as yet unexplored by the Dutch, west- 
ward and northward from Fort Nassau.* 

Long Island, or " Sewan-hacky," was occupied by the Long isi- 
savage tribe of " Metowacks," which was subdivided intodians. 
various clans, each having a separate appellation, and 
whose lodges extended from " the Visscher's Hook," or 
Montauk Point, to "Ihpetonga," or "the high sandy 
banks," now known as Brooklyn Heights. Staten Island, 
on the opposite side of the bay, was inhabited by the Mon- 
atons, who named it Monacknong, or Eghquaous.t In- 
land, to the west, lived the Raritans and the Hackin-Newjor- 
sack's ; while the regions in the vicinity of the well-known iiians. 
"Highlands," south of Sandy Hook, were inhabited by a 
band or sub-tribe called the Nevesincks, or Navisinks, 
whoso name denotes their intermediate position between 
the Atlantic and the Raritan Bay.t To the south and 
west, covering the centre of New Jersey, were the Aqua- 
maohukes and the Stankekans ; while the valley of the 
Delaware, northward from the Schuylkill, was inhabit- 
ed by various tribes of the Lenapc race, who were col- 
lectively known to the Dutch as " the Minquas," and by 
their hereditary northern foes, the Iroquois, were named 
"Ogehage."^ 

The " Island of the Manhattans" was so called " after Manhat- 
tans. 

* Schoolcraft, in N. Y. II. S. Proc, 1844, 89-91. 

t All). Rec, viii., ifii : Sinjtii's N. V., i., 321 ; Clinton, in N. Y. II. S. Coll., ii., 41 ; 
Thompson's L. I., i., 87-95; Schoolcraft, 97, 98; ante, p. 57 : post, p. 172. 
i Schoolcraft, 105, 106. ^ Figurative Map, see Appendix, notes G and 1. 



74 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. III. the aiicient name of the tribe of savages among whom the 
Dutch first settled themselves."* This tribe, which inhab- 
■ ited the eastern shore, was always " very obstinate and un- 
friendly" toward the Hollanders. On the west side of the 

sanhikans. bay, and of the river above Bergen Point, lived the Sanhi- 
kans, who were "the deadly enemies of the Manhattans, 
and a much better people."t North of the Sanhikans, on 
the broad bay between the Palisadoes and Verdrietig Hook, 

Tappans. dwclt the tribe of Tappans,t whose wigwams extended 
back from Nyack toward the hilly regions of Rockland and 
Orange counties. This unexplored territory, the early im- 
perfect maps of New Netherland transmitted to Holland, 
erroneously represented as an " effen veldt," or a level, 
open country. 

The eastern bank of the river, north of Manhattan, and 
the valley of the Nepera or Saw-mill Creek, was possessed 

Week- by the tribe of "VVeckquaesgeeks. The region above, as far 

geeks. as the Croton, or Kitchawan, was inhabited by another 

sint-singa. band Called the Sint-Sings, whose chief village was named 
Ossin-Sing, or "the Place of Stones;" and the famous mar- 
ble quarries now worked near " Sing-Sing," while they 
commemorate the name, vindicate the judgment of the ab- 
origines. s^ 

The Highlands above were occupied by a band called 

Pachami. the Pachami, beyond whom dwelt the Waoranacks. North 
of these, and in what is now the county of Dutchess, lived 

wappin- the tribe of "Wappingcrs, whose name is still preserved in 
that of the picturesque stream which empties into the riv- 
er near New Hamburg. Their chief locality was the val- 
ley of the Fishkill, or " Matteawan" Creek, the aboriginal 
name of which, according to the popular traditions of the 
country, signified " good furs," for which the stream was 
anciently celebrated. But modern etymology more accu- 

* Alb. Rcc, xviii., 318 ; N. Y. II. S. Coll., ill., 375 ; O'Call., i., 48. The Dutch tliera- 
selvcs named the island after the Indian tribe of " Manhattans." Ileckewelder's tradi- 
tionary acrount that the name of the island was derived from the "general into.xication" 
which is said to have occurred there, is considered in note A, Appendi.\. 

t Dc Laet, book iii., cap. ix. ; Figurative Map. 

t According to Ileckcwclder, the name of Tappan is derived from "Tuphanne," a Del- 
aware word, signifying " cold stream." — Moulton's N. Y., p. 227. t) Schoolcraft, 101. 



gers 



THE NORTH RIVER TRIBES. 75 

rately deriving the term from " metai," a magician or chap. iu. 
medicine man, and " wian," a skin, it would seem that 
tlio neighboring Indians esteemed the peltries of the Fish- 
kill as " charmed" by the incantations of the aboriginal 
enchanters who dwelt along its banks ; and the beautiful 
scenery in which these ancient priests of the wild men of 
the Highlands dwelt is thus invested with new poetical 
associations. A few miles north of the " Wahamanessing," 
or Wappinger's Creek, was a sheltered inlet at the mouth 
of the Fallkill, affording a safe harbor for canoes navigat- 
ing the " Long Reach," between PoUepel's Island and 
Crom Elbow.* The aboriginal designation of this inlet 
was Apokeepsing, "a place of shelter from storms ;" and 
the memory of this once famous harbor for the canoes of 
the river tribes is perpetuated in the name of the flourish- 
ing city of Pokeepsie. Still further north, near Red Hook pokeepsio. 
landing, lived another clan of the Wappingers. Here tra- 
dition asserts a great battle was fought between the river 
Indians and the Iroquois confederates ; and the bones of 
the slain were said to be yet visible, when the Dutch first 
settled themselves on the spot. The wigwams of the Wap- 
pingers and their sub-tribes extended eastward to the 
range of the Tachkanic, or Taconiok Mountains, which 
separate the valley of the North River fi'om that of the 
Housatonic.t 

On the west side of the river, northward from Verdrie- 
tig Hook and the Kumochenack, or Haverstraw Bay, the 
tribes were remarkably mixed and subdivided. Parts of 
the present county of Rockland, and nearly the whole of 
the county of Orange, were inhabited by the Waronawan- waronaw- 

11' 1 111 in ankongs. 

kongs, whose huntmg-grounds extended along the Shaw- 
langunk mountain range. t Further north, and occupying 

* PoUepel's Island is the one in the middle of the river, just north of the Ilighlanda. 
Its name is derived from its supposed resetnhlanre to the convex side of a ladle, which in 
Dutch is "Pollepel." The abrupt bend in the river, between Pokeepsie and Hyde Park, 
formerly called " Kroin EUeboog," or crooked elbow, is now known as '"^roni Elbow. 

t Schoolcraft, lOl-ICS. 

t These mountains are said to have obtained their name from the predominating whito 
or gray color of their rocks ; the word " Shawan-gunk" being explained by the Indians 
of the country to mean " white rocks."— See Mather's Geology of N. Y., 355. Schoolcraft, 



76 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. III. the present counties of Ulster and (xreene, were the Min- 
■ qua clans of Minnisincks, Nanticokes, Mincaes, and Dela- 

Minni warcs. Thcso clans had pressed onward from the upper 
sincks. valley of the Delaware, which the Dutch expressively 
named "the Land of Baca,"^ and, following the course of 
the Nevesinck River and the valley of the " Great Esopua 
Creek," had at length reached the tides of the North River. 
Esopusiii- They were generally known among the Dutch as the Eso- 
pus Indians. The doubtful etymology of this name is 
traced to " Seepus," a river ; and the Esopus Creek, hav- 
ing long been celebrated as the aboriginal channel of com- 
munication with the upper waters of the Delaware, it was 
probably called " the Seepus," or river, by way of emi- 
nence. t The word was soon modified into " Bopus," or 
Esopus, in which form it has ever since been in use. At 
an early period, the Dutch are said to have erected a " Ron- 
Bondout duit," or small fort, near the mouth of the creek, which, 
from this circumstance, obtained its present name, the 
" Rondout." Part of the adjoining region was afterward 
named " Wiltwyck," or Indian village ; but the familiar 
term Esopus continued in popular use long after the pres*- 
ent legal designation of Kingston was adopted. $ 

The name of the Minnisinck tribe was derived from the 
island, or " Minnis," in the upper waters of the Delaware, 
where the self-denying missionary Brainerd afterward en- 
dured so many trials. Their wigwams, with those of the 
other clans of Esopus Indians, extended over the area of 
the present counties of Ulster and Greene, along the banks 
of the river, and through the valley of the Catskill,^ to 
Coxackie, or Kuxakee. This word, in their dialect, sig- 
nified " the place of the cut banks," where the current, 
deflected against the western shore, had gradually worn 
away the land. Beyond the Minnisincks and Esopus In- 
dians, the west side of the river, near Castle Island, was 

however (p. 108), seems to derive their name from their position to ine south, or " Shaw- 
anonj;" oftlie Catskills. * Visschcr's and Van der Donck's Maps. 

t Schoolrrafl, 108. i IIol. Doc., xi., 86 ; see Appendix, note H. 

I) This kill or creek, and tho majestic mountain chain inland, were so named from the 
catamount or panther, which formerly abounded, and is now froiiuently found, in this wild 
and picturesque region.— Schoolcraft, 109, 110 



THE MOHAWKS AND MAHICANS. 77 

inhabited by the fierce Maquaas, or Mohawks, whose hunt- chap. in. 
inor-o-rounds extended northward to the " Lake of the Ir- 
oquois," or Lake Champlain, westward through the val- -p^g ^|„. ' 
ley of the Mohawk, and southward to the sources of the ''^^*''^- 
Susquehanna. 

Above the Wappingers, on the east side of the river, the 
lodges of the Mahicans, or Mohegans, extended northward The Mam 
and eastward from Roelof Jansen's Kill, and occupied the 
whole area of the present counties of Columbia and Rens- 
selaer. The ancient seat of their council-fire was near 
Schodac ; and opposite to the present city of Albany, they 
had early fortified a village against the dreaded attacks 
of their hereditary enemies, the Mohawks.* Beyond the 
Mahicans dwelt the tribe of Horikans, whose hunting- The iiori- 

^ kana. 

grounds appear to have extended from the waters of the 
Connecticut, across the Green Mountains, to the borders 
of that beautiful lake which might now well bear their 
sonorous name.t 

From the time that Hudson first passed the Mahican The Dutch 

•11 nil 1/^ iT-111 ••11 "" friendly 

Villages at bchodac and Castleton, and Block visited thotennswiui 
upper waters of the Connecticut, a friendly intercourse haddians. 
been maintained between the Dutch and the native tribes 
on the east side of the North River. With the fierce Mo- 
hawks on the west side, upon whose territory they had built 
Fort Nassau, they were careful to keep on the bsst terms ; 
and from them the Dutch learned that the Canadian French 
were in the habit of coming in boats from Quebec, to trade 
in the upper part of their territories, adjoining the Lake of 
the Iroquois, or Lake Champlain. $ But the inland tribes, 
toward the south and west, had as yet been unvisited by 
Europeans ; though Champlain had just carried death and 

* Wassenmir, xii., 38 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii., 43. 

t De I.aet, viii., ante, p. 56 ; Vi.sscher'.s Map ; Van dcr DonckVs Map ; Map in Montanus. 
This charming lake— the Como of America— and which the French, in 1G46, first called 
"Saint Sacremcnt," because they visited it on the festival of Corpus Christi, was natiied 
oy General (afterward Sir William) .lohnson, in September, 1755, "Lake Georoe, not 
on'y in hnnoT of his majesty, but to ascertain his undoubted dowinimi here." — Londou 
Documents, .xx.xii., 169. The reasons which, in 1755, prompted the Uritish general to give 
a new name to the lake, should certainly not prevail at the present day ; nor should they 
prevent the revival of the aboriginal term suggested by our own Cooper, "IIokikan." 

t De Laet, ix. ; Parchment Map. See also note G, Appendix. 



78 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. III. the terror of the French arms to the Iroquois castle at 

Onondaoja. 
1 fil fi 

Anxious to explore the unknown regions, of which only 

a vague idea had been gathered from the imperfect expla- 
nations of the Mohawks, three traders in the service of the 
New Netherland Company seem to have adventurously set 
Exploring out from Fort Nassau, on an expedition " into the interior, 
Fort Nas- and downwaid, along the New River, to the Ogehage," or 
the Minquas, " the enemies of the northern tribes."* The 
route of the party is not accurately defined ; but they, per- 
haps, followed the trail of the Esopus Indians to the sources 
of the Delaware, the waters of which they descended to 
the Schuylkill. At this point of their progress, they ap- 
pear to have been taken prisoners by the Minquas ; and 
the news reaching the Dutch on the Mauritius River, ar- 
rangements were promptly made to ransom the captives, 
as well as undertake a more thorough examination of the 
country where they were detained. 
The yacht Accordingly, the yacht "Restless," which Block, on his 
explores the return to Holland, had left in charge of Cornells Hendrick- 

Del fl W QXG • 

sen, was dispatched from Manhattan southward, along the 
coast of New Jersey, to explore the " New River" from 
its mouth to its upper waters. The voyage was entirely 
successful. Sailing into the bay which Hudson had first 
discovered seven years before, Hendricksen explored the 
adjoining coasts, and discovered " three rivers, situated be- 
tween the thirty-eighth and fortieth degrees of latitude. "t 
The fertile land was full of majestic forest trees, " which 
in some places were covered with grape-vines ;" and tur- 
keys, partridges, harts, and hinds abounded along the pleas- 
ant shores. The climate of the country, which was " the 
same as that of Holland," delighted the crew of the Rest- 
less, as they trafficked with the natives for seal-skins and 
sables. Proceeding up the channel of the main river, be- 
yond the confluence of the Schuylkill, Hendricksen opened 

* IIol. Doc, i., 59 ; Paper Map. See Appendix, note I. 

+ These " three rivers" were probably the Delaware itself, the Schuylkill, and perhaps 
the Iloarkill, or Broadkill Creek, in the State of Delaware, upon which Lewiston now 
stands. 



HENDKICKSEN EXPLORES THE SOUTH RIVER. 79 

a friendly intercourse with the Minquas who inhabited its chap. hi. 
banks ; and ransomed from these savages his three cap- 
tive countrymen, giving in exchange for them " kettles, •'■"-'^"• 
beads, and other merchandise."* 

To Cornelis Hendricksen unquestionably belongs theHendrick- 
honor of having been the first to explore the bay and river explorer of 
which now unjustly bear the name of Lord Delawarr. The ware, 
light draught of the Restless enabled her to penetrate very 
easily where Hudson did not venture to pilot the Half Moon, 
and where Argall made no explorations.! Hendricksen 
seems to have coasted up along the western shore of the 
bay, and to have been the first European navigator who 
set his foot on the soil of Delaware and Pennsylvania. He 
probably ransomed the Dutch captives near the very spot 
where Philadelphia was founded, just sixty-six years aft- 1682. 
erward.t The river above now received the name of the 
" New," or " South River," to distinguish it from the Mau- south Riv- 
ritius, which soon became better known as the North Riv- "' 
er. Before long, the southern cape of the bay was named 
" Cape Cornelius," after its "first discoverer ;" and anoth- cape cor- 
er point, about twelve miles to the southward, was called "'^ "^' 
Cape Hinlopen, probably after Tliymen Jacobsen Hinlo- cape nin- 
pen, of Amsterdam, and also Cape Inloopen, because it ''^'^"' 
seemed to vanish on being approached. § 

On the return of the Restless to Manhattan, Hendrick- nendrick- 
sen proceeded to Holland, to assist his employers in ob- to uouand. 
taining a separate exclusive charter to trade to the newly- 
explored territory, which extended two degrees south of 
the limits assigned to New Netherland in the grant of Oc- 
tober, 1614. The associated merchants dispatched him 
immediately to the Hague, accompanied by an Amster- 
dam notary, to report his discoveries to the States General, 
and procure for them the desired special trading privilege. 
Taking with him a manuscript map, he explained, orally, is August. 

* Hoi. Doc, i., 59. t See ante, pages 27 and 51, and Appendix, note D. 

) Samuel Hazard's Annals of Pennsylvania, 579, 591. 

() De Laet, book iii., cap. ix. ; ii., N. Y. H. S. Coll., i., 303, 315 ; Wassenaar, ix., 124, 
ante, p. 59 ; see also Visscher's and Montanus's Maps. The name of Hinlopen seems to 
have been first applied to False Cape, just south of Rehoboth Bay ; but it has smce been 
transfcired to the original Cape Cornelius. See Des Barre's chart ; Breviat, 5C, 91, 98. 



^ HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. III. to their High Mightinesses the situation and nature of the 

newly-explored regions. The States General, however, 

^' requiring a formal report in writing, Hendricksen submit- 

9 August, ted, the next day, a short statement of his proceedings on 
the South River, and asked, on behalf of his employers, a 
special charter for trading there.* 

New char- But the Dutch sTovemment hesitated to comply with the 

ter for the . 

South Riv- application of the Amsterdam merchants for new special 
privileges. Their original trading charter of October, 1614, 
which specifically defined New Netherland as " situated 
between New France and Virginia," had yet a year and a 
half to run. The grantees of that charter now desired a 
similar monopoly for the territory between the thirty-eighth 
and fortieth degrees. But this region seemed to be with- 
in the acknowledged limits of Virginia, according to the 
boundaries which, the States Greneral had themselves as- 
signed to New Netherland. If, under these circumstances, 
they were now to pass the new special charter for which 
• their subjects had applied, it might give rise to difficulties 
with James, which, in the present condition of public af- 
fairs, would be extremely embarras.sing. The States Gen- 
eral, accordingly, after two more deliberations upon the 

J Nov subject, softened their adverse decision by adopting the 
mild form of an indefinite postponement.! 

The Amsterdam " Directors of New Netherland," find- 
ing that the States General wore unwilling to counten- 
ance their project of seeming encroachment upon Virginia, 
now confined their attention more particularly to the re- 
gions drained by the North River. Fort Nas.sau, which 
Christiaensen had originally built on Castle Island in 1(514, 

PortNas- having been several times overflowed by the waters from 

aau do- 1 c 1 . 

stroyod. the Lippcr couutry, was almost swept away by a rre.shet 

* llol. Doc. i., 53, 59. Sen also Appendix, note 1. 

t Hoi. Doc, i., 03, 64. The year Ifilfi will ever be memorable in the annils of the 
world, as that in which William Cornelis Sithoulen, a merchant oflloorn, in North Hol- 
land, first sailed around the ."^oulhoni promontory of Atnerica, whih, in honor of his na- 
tive city, he named " Capi; lloorn." Before Siiliouten's voya:»e, the only known passage 
to the Pacific was Ihrouu'li the Straits of M igallan. Sjliouten also discovered the Straits 
of Le Maire, which he so railed after .lacoh le Mairc, of Amsterdam, one of his partners. 
Siateil Land was thus named, in honor of the States of Holland. Few, probably, of those 
who nowadays talk of" the Horn," knov/ the origin of the name 



THE ROMANS OF THE WESTERN WORLD. 81 

on the breaking up of the ice, in the spring of 1617.* The chap. hi. 
company's traders were, therefore, obliged to abandon it, 
and seek a more secure position on the west bank of the 
river, at the mouth of the " Tawasentha," or Norman's 
Kill.t The new situation was well chosen. The portage 
path of the Mohawks, coming from the west, terminated 
about two miles above, at Skanektade, " beyond the pine 
plains," or " beyond the openings," on the North River — 
the site of the present city of Albany.? It was important 
to keep the trading-house of the company as near as pos- 
sible to the eastern termination of this great Indian thor- 
oughfare ; and, on the commanding eminence which the 
Mohawks called Tawass-orunshee, overlooking the river at ^'^ p"?' 

" ' ^ on tlie I a- 

the mouth of the Tawasentha, a new fortified post was wss'-ntha. 
erected by Eelkens. Here, tradition alleges, was soon aft- 
erward concluded, with the chiefs of the Five Confederated 
Nations of North American Indians, the first formal treaty 
of alliance between the red man and the Hollander ; and 
which, after its renewal by Kieft in 1645, was observed 
with general respect, until the surrender of Fort Orange 
to the English. A new league of friendship was then en- 1664. 
tered into between Colonel Cartwright and the sachems of ^^ ^^p' 
the Iroquois, which continued without violation on either 
side until the commencement of the Revolutionary war.§ 
At the time of the treaty of the Tawasentha, the fairest 
regions of North America were inhabited by " the Romans 
of the Western World. "II Around the elevated table-lands 

* Wassenaar, vi., 144. Stiiyvesant, in writing to the Coneral Court ol' Massachusetts 
on 20th April, 1060, says that from the small fort which the Dutch originally built there. 
" an island near Fort Orange yet bears the name ol" Castle Island, and the monuments of 
whir.h can yet be shown; which small fort wa.s three years afterward serioiwly injured by 
high water and ice, so that at length it decayed entirely."— Alb. Rec, xxiv., 167. 

t Moulton, 340. The original and beautifully-expressive Mohawk name of this stream 
was " Tawasentha," meaning the place of the many dead. It was an ancient Mohawk 
village, and the burial-place of many of the tribe— Schoolcraft and G. F. Yates. The 
Dutch appellative of the " Norman's Kill" is said to have been derived from Andries 
Bradt, a native of Denmark, and therefore surnamed " the Norman," who settled himself 
there in 1630.— O'Call., i., 78, 433, 434. 

t Schoolcraft, in Proc.N. Y. II. S., 1844, p. 91, 111 ; L. H. Morgan's " League of the Iro- 
quois," 415. 

^ Golden, i., 34 ; De Witt Clinton's Address, in N. Y. H. S. Coll., ii., 62 ; Smith's Hist. 
N. Y., i., 33 ; Moulton, 346 ; Schoolcraft, 91 ; O'Call., i., 78 ; Lond. Doc, i., 188 ; N. Y. 
Col. MSB., iii., 67, 68 ; post, p. 744. II Volney, 476 ; Clinton, 44. 



52 l-ilsTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. III. whence flow waters which discharge themselves through 
the Hudson, the Delaware, the Susquehanna, and the Saint 
^ Lawrence into the Atlantic, and through the Alleghany, 
the Ohio, and the Mississippi into the G-ulf of Mexico, 
were then clustered five nations of warlike savages, whose 
forefathers, expelled from Canada by the Adirondacs, in 
early days, had penetrated into the centre of New York. 
There they multiplied ; were subdivided into tribes or na- 
tions ; and then formed themselves into a Federal Repub- 
The iro- lie of independent cantons. Of the precise period of this 
federation. Confederation history has no record. But modern research 
into conflicting tradition places the event about the year 
1539 ; forty-seven years after Columbus's first voyage ; 
four years after Cartier ascended the Saint Lawrence to 
Hochelaga ; and seventy years before Hudson discovered 
the North River.* 

The Iroquois, or Five Nations, preserving then' several 
specific names of Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, 
and Senecas, when they formed their confederation, took 
the name of " Konoshioni,"! the "cabin makers," or "peo- 
ple of the long house." That long house reached from 
the banks of the North River to the shores of Lake Erie. 
The eastern door of the sky-canopied abode of the Iroquois 
was guarded by the Kayingehagas, or Maquaas or Mo- 
Traditionai hawks ;t the wcstcm door by the Senecas. Poetical tra- 
°he"iro" dition, recorded by one of their own people,^ deduces their 
origin, like that of the Athenian " Autochthones," from 
the " earth itself." In remote ages, they had been confined 

* Smith's Hist. N. Y., i., 64 ; Schoolcraft's Notes on the Iroquois, 118 ; Clark's Onon- 
daga, i., 20 ; L. H. Morgan's " League of the Iroquois," 5-8. G. F. Yates thinks that the 
period of the Iroquois confederacy was still more remote. 

t Clinton's Address ; Schoolcraft's Notes. The common French orthography of this 
term is " Aquinoshioni," or Agonnonsionni, which, according to Charlevoix, i., 271, sig- 
nified Faiseurs de Cabanncs ; see a7iie, p. 67, note. In their own language, the Five Na- 
tions also called themselves " Ilotinnonchiendi" — that is, La Cabanne Achevee ; Relation, 
1653-4, p. 54. Morgan, p. 51, however, says that the Iroquois, after their league, called 
themselves " Ho-de-no-sau-nee" which signifies "the people of the long house." 

t " We commonly call them Maquaas, but they call themselves Kayingehaga." Letter 
of Domine Megapolcnsis to the Classis of Amsterdam, 28th September, 1658; Moulton, 
338. Morgan, p. 52, writes the word " Ga-ne-ga-ha-ga," meaning "the possessor of tlie 
flint." According to M. de Joncaire, the device of the Mohawks, in 1736, was a steel and 
flint. Paris Doc, viii., 187 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., i., 22 ; Ibid., iii., 902, where the name is 
given aa Gcminffehage. <> Cusick. 



quois. 



THE IROQUOIS CONFEDERATION. gg 

under a mountain, near the falls of the " Osh-wah-kee," chap. hi. 
or Oswego River, whence they were released by Tharon- 
HYJAGON, " the Holder of the Heavens." Bidding them go ■'•"■'^ '• 
forth toward the east, he guided them to the valley of the 
Mohawk. Following its stream, they reached the Caho- 
hatatea, or North River, which some of them descended to 
the sea. Thence, retracing their path, toward the west, 
they originated, as they passed along, the tribes of Mo- 
hawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, Senecas, and Tus- 
caroras.* But the Tuscaroras, wandering to the south, 
crossed the Alleghanies, and fixed their home on the banks 
of the Cautano, or Neuse River, in North Carolina ; where 
Tharonhyjagon, leaving them to hunt and prosper, re- 
turned northward, to direct the confederation of the re- 
maining Five Nations.! Such is one of the bold fables 
by which the traditions of the Konoshioni assert their 
aboriginal existence. 

The several tribes or cantons were independent. As The sever- 
they grew in numbers and in valor, they began to quarrel indcpend- 
among themselves ; and, living in perpetual fear, they 
built fortresses for defense, or else continually shifted their 
villages. Finding that they were gradually wasting away, 
the wise men of the Onondagas proposed that the kindred 
tribes should no longer war against each other, but should 
unite in a common league for offense and defense against 
all other nations. The advice was adopted, and each Iro- 
quois tribe or canton deputed representatives to a general 
council. By these plenipotentiaries the Confederation of 
the Five Nations was organized on the shores of the On- 
ondaga Lake, where the great central council-fire was 
originally kindled, and for centuries permanently remain- 
ed. When the league was formed, Atotarho, the dreaded 



* In the Seneca dialect, the name of the Tuscaroras was Dusgamceh-ono, " the shirt- 
wearing people ;" that of the Senecas, .\imdaira-ono, or " the great hill people ;" that of 
the Cayugas, Gucuirweh-ono, or "the people at the mucky land ;" that of the Onondagas, 
Onundaga-ono, or " people on the hills ;" and that of the Oneidas, Onayoteka-ono, or " the 
people of the granite stone."— Morgan, 51, 52. The name of the Mohawks has already 
been considered. 

t Megapolensis, in Hazard, i., 525 ; Schoolcraft's Notes, 69-105 ; Clark's Onondaga, 
i., 21-30, 37-43 ; Morgan, 7. 



84 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. III. chief of the Onondagas, was anxiously sought by the Mo- 
hawk embassy, which was specially deputed for the pur- 
pose. Atotarho was found sitting in a swamp, calmly 
smoking a pipe, and rendered invulnerable by living ser- 
pents which hissed around his body. Approaching the 
chief in awe, the embassy invested him with a broad belt 
of wampum, and solemnly placed him at the head of their 
league. The dignity which popular veneration thus spon- 
taneously conferred on their great sachem always remain- 

»--oiariio. ed in the Onondaga tribe ; and the name of "Atotarho," 
after his death, became the distinctive hereditary title of 
the most illustrious chief of the Iroquois Confederation.* 

Character The Confederation of the Five Iroquois Nations was sim- 

and powers 

of the grand ply a league for commou defense, not a perfect political 
union. t The general council of sachems, elected accord- 
ing to the laws of each nation, exercised only a delegated 
power, and expressed only the popular will of their con- 
stituents. What these senatorial sachems in the grand 
council deliberately pronounced to be proper, the venera- 
tion of the constituent cantons supported and maintained. 
Thus, besides the union of the Netherland Provinces, the 
league of the Iroquois nations was early set before the 
American colonies as an example for their consideration. 

Govern- Each uatiou or canton was a sovereira republic, divided 

r.-ient of the . . . , , . 

severfii na- mto claus : and each contmued, notwithstanding the con- 
federation, to be governed by its own political chiefs or 
sachems. The original clans, or families, into which each 
tribe was subdivided, were eight in number, and were dis- 
tinguished from each other by different and peculiar de- 
vices or " Totems." The most important of these were 
the Tortoise, the Bear, and the Wolf These totems, or 
family symbols, denoting original consanguinity, were 

* Schoolcraft, 91 ; Morgan, 67, 08, calls him " To-do-da-lio." 

t " The term ' Five Nations,' used by Golden, and in popular use during the earlier pe- 
riod of the colony, ceased to he appropriate after the Tuscarora revolt in North Carolina, and 
the reunion of thi.s tribe with the parent stock subsequent to 1712. From that period they 
were culled the ' Six Nations,' and continued to ac<juire increased reputation as a confed- 
eracy under this name, until the termination of the American Revolution in 1763, and the 
flight of the Mohawlis and Cayugas to Canada." — Schoolcraft, 40 ; Morgan, 24, 44 ; Ban- 
croft, lii.,24.'), 3-:i, 322. 



GOVERNMENT OF THE IROQUOIS. 85 

universally respected. The wandering savage appealed chap.ui. 
to his totem, and was entitled to the hospitality of the 
wigwam whieh bore the corresponding emhlem. The old- 
est, most sensible, best-speaking, and most warlike men 
of the tribe were generally chosen to be its chiefs or sa- sachems. 
chems. " These commonly resolve, and the young and 
warlike men carry into execution ; but if the common 
people do not approve of the resolution, it is left entirely 
to the judgment of the mob. The chiefs are generally 
the poorest among them ; for instead of their receiving 
from the common people, as among Christians, they are 
obliged to give to them." The war chiefs derived their 
authority from their approved courage. Military service Military 

service 

was demanded only by custom and opinion. But the 
penalty of a coward's name kept the ranks of the Iroquois 
war-parties always full. All able-bodied males above the 
age of fourteen were judged capable of taking the field ; 
and no title was more honorable than that of warrior. To 
join in the war-dance was to enlist for an expedition. 
Each warrior furnished his own arms and provisions, and 
no cumbersome baggage impeded the rapid march of an 
Iroquois army.* 

Oratory distinguished the Five Nations as much as Eloquence 
bravery and political wisdom. In all democracies, elo- irSquois.'* 
quenoe is one of the surest roads to popular favor and pub- 
lic honors. Among the Iroquois, oratory was as sedulous- 
ly cultivated as at Athens or Rome. Their children were 
taken to the council-fires, where they listened to the words 
of the wise men as they talked of peace and war. The 
sublime scenery in which they lived constantly suggested 
rich images ; and while the criticism of their sages re- 
strained the luxuriance of youthful rhetoric to the stand- 
ard of approved taste, their eloquence became a model 
which other Indian nations were proud to imitate. Thus 
peculiar and extraordinary by great attainments in gov- 
ernment, in negotiation, in oratory, and in war, " the su- 

* Paris Doc., i., 152 ; Megapolensis, in Hazard, i., 525, 526 ; Schoolcraft, 128, 130; Mor- 
gan, 62-103 ; Clark, i., 31-34. 



86 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. III. perior qualities of the Iroquois may be ascribed as well to 
■~ the superiority of their origin, a.s to the advantages of po- 

■ sition, the maxims of policy, and the principles of educa- 
tion which distinguished them from the other red inhab- 
itants of this Western World."* 
The Mo- Of all the confederated nations, the Mohawks were the 
eminent, bravcst and the fiercest. No hunter warriors on the North 
American continent ever filled a higher measure of hero- 
ism and military renown. Their very name was a syno- 
nym for blood. t From their propinquity to the Dutch set- 
tlements, and their superior martial exploits, the name of 
this nation was frequently applied, by way of eminence, 
to the whole Iroquois confederation ; among all the nations 
of which the Mohawks were held in the highest venera- 
tion. Standing at the eastern door of the '' Long House," 
the Mohawk warriors were the chief agents in carrying 
to the sea the conquests of the Iroquois. Far across the 
hills of Massachusetts, and through the valley of the Con- 
necticut, the dreaded name of Mohawk enforced an abso- 
lute submission ; and their annual envoys collected tribute 
and dictated laws with all the arbitrary authority of Ro- 
man proconsuls. From their ancient fortresses, war par- 
ties of the Iroquois continually went forth to victory ; and 
the tribes on both banks of the North River quailed before 

* De Witt Clinton's Address, in N. Y. 11. S. Coll., ii., 79. " Regret has been expressed 
that some one of the sonorous and apitropriate Indian names of the West had not been 
chosen to designate the state. The colonists were but little regardful of questions of this 
kind. Both the Dutch in 1609, and the English in 10(54, came with precisely the same 
force of national prepossession — the first in favor of Amsterdam, and the second in favor 
of New York — bo'.h connected with the belittling adjective " New." * * * * It would be 
well, indeed, if their descendants in America had been a little more alive to the influence 
of this trait. Those who love the land and cherish its nationalities, would at least have 
been spared * * the continued repetition of foreign, petty, or vulgar names, * * * while 
such names as Saratoga and Ticonderoga, Niagara and Ontario, Iosco and Owasco, are 
never thought of."— Schoolcraft, in N. Y. II. S. Proc, 1844, p. 95. 

t " The word ' Mohawk' itself is not a term of Mohawk origin, but one imposed upon 
them, as it is believed, by the Mohegan or Mahican race, which inhabited the borders of 
the sea. Among this race the Dutch and English landed ; and they would naturally 
adopt the term most in vogue for so celebrated a tribe. The Dutch, indeed, modified it to 
' Maquaas,' a modification which helps us to decipher its probable origin in Manqua, a 
bear. * * * The Mohawk sachems, who presented their condolence at Albany in 1G90, on 
the taking of Schenectady, said, ' We are all of the race of the bear — and a bear, you 
know, never yields while one drop ori)lood is left. We must all be bears.' " — Schoolcraft's 
Notes, 73. Clark, j., 31, says, that the Mohawks furnished the " Te-kar-a-ho-gea," or war 
captain of the league. But this has been denied by Morgan. 



EMPIRE OF THE IROQUOIS. 87 

their formidable foe. Long before European discovery, chap. hi. 
the question of savage supremacy had been settled on the ~~~l^ 
waters of the Cahohatatea. '' 

Such w^ere the famous Indian nations among which the Empire of 
Dutch first estabUshed themselves on the upper waters of quois. 
the North River. Under the influence of that spirit of ag- 
gression, and thirst for aggrandizement which the con- 
sciousness of power excites, the Iroquois confederates soon 
reduced the neighboring tribes into vassalage ; and exact- 
ed a universal tribute, from the Abenaquis on the Bay of 
Fundy, to the Miamis on the Ohio. The weaker nations 
trembled when they heard the awful name of the Konosh- 
ioni. Their war-cry sounded over the great lakes, and was 
heard in the Chesapeake Bay. They quenched the fires 
of the Erics, and exterminated the Susquehannas. The 
Lenapees, the Metowacks, and the Manhattans were sub- 
jugated. The terror of the Iroquois went wherever their 
war-canoes were paddled ; and the streams which flowed 
from the summit lands around then- grand council-fire at 
Onondaga, were the channels which conducted their war- 
riors to triumphant expeditions among the neighboring 
tribes. Their invincible arms humbled every native foe, 
and their national pride grew with every conquest.* 

But when the progress of the French along the Saint F"-st imm- 

^ ° '^ bled by 

Lawrence had introduced the knowledge of European champiain. 
weapons among the Hurons and Algonquins of Canada, 
the war-parties of the far-conquering Iroquois suffered se- 
verely in their encounters with enemies who were aided 

* Smith's N. Y., i., 51-66 ; Bancroft, i., 134 ; ii., 410 ; iii., 245 ; Schoolcraft's Notes, 52 ; 
Morgan, 9-17. I can not forego the pleasure of extracting a few lines descriptive of the 
supremacy of the Iroquois, from Mr. Strett's metrical romance, " Frontenac." 

" The fierce Adirondacs had fled from their wrath. 
The Hurons been swept from their merciless path ; 
Around, the Ottawas, like leaves had been strown, 
And the Lake of the Eries struck silent and lone. 
The Lcnapo, lords once of valley and hill, 
Made women, bent low at their conquerors' will. 
By the far Mississippi the Illini shrank. 
When the trail of the ToRTOl.^E was seen on the bank ; 
On the hills of New England the Pequod turned pale. 
When the howl of the Wolf swelled at night on the gale ; 
And the Cherokee shook in his preen smilmg bowers. 
When the fool of the Be.^r stamped his carpet of flowers." 



88 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. III. by the military skill of Champlain. The lesson which he 
had first taught to the Mohawks in 1609, had been re- 
peated to the Onondagas in 1615. His unerring arque- 
buse had struck down the chiefs who were thought invul- 
nerable in their arrow-proof native armor ; and the terri- 
fied confederates had twice fled before their unusual foe.* 
Anxious to wipe off the disgrace of unexpected defeat, 
the Iroquois sought the alliance of those whose friendship 
might, perhaps, enable them to recover their ancient su- 

Treaty of perioritv ; and the treaty of the Tawasentha was soon 

the Tawa- i^ J ^ •' _ 

sentha. concludcd between the chiefs of the aborigines and the 
representatives of the Amsterdam merchants, in all the 
solemn forms of Indian diplomacy. Besides the Iroquois, 
the Mahicans, the Mincees, the Minnisincks, and the Len- 
ni-Lenapees were represented at this grand council, which 
the Mohawks, who were the prime movers of the treaty, 
invited the other tribes to attend. Under the supervis- 
ion of the Dutch, a general peace and alliance was nego- 
tiated ; and the supremacy of the Five Confederated Na- 
tions was affirmed and acknowledged by the other tribes. 
The plenipotentiaries of the Iroquois were five chiefs, 
each representing his nation, and each bearing a hered- 
itary name, which, nearly a century before, had distin- 
guished the delegates who formed the grand confedera- 
tion. The belt of peace was held fast at one end by the 
Iroquois, and at the other by the Dutch ; while in the mid- 
dle it rested on the shoulders of the subjugated Mahicans, 
Mincees, and Lenni-Lenapees, as a nation of women. The 
calumet was smoked, and the tomahawk was buried in 
the earth, over which the Dutch declared they would erect 
a church, so that none should dig it up again without de- 
stroying the building and incurring their resentment.t 
consc- Thus the factors of the Amsterdam Company gained 

^e treaty, for the Hollanders the lasting friendship of the Iroquois. 
Their traders fearlessly visited the wigwams of the red 
men ; and in exchange for the peltries of New Netherland, 

* Voyages dc Champlain, 151, 103, 202. 

t MouJton, 346 ; Schoolorafl, 91 ; Ilcckcwelder, Morgan. 



EXPIRATION OF THE NEW NETHERLAND CHAPTER 89 

the Dutch, at first anxious to limit their payments to duf- chap.iii 
fels and toys, before many years began to supply their In- 
dian allies with weapons whieh had conquered a peace 
with Spain.* To both parties the treaty was advanta- 
geous. The tranquil monopoly of the fur trade filled the 
cofiers of the Amsterdam adventurers ; while the posses- 
sion of European fire-arms eventually enabled the confed- 
erated nations to reassert and maintain their former su- 
premacy over the neighboring savage tribes. But the in- 
troduction of these weapons was, in the end, fatal to the 
peace of the frontier. The Indian warrior soon became 
more expert with the fijelock than the European who 
manufactured it. For more than a century, the confed- 
erated nations were alternately courted as allies and 
dreaded as enemies by the rival statesmen of England 
and France ; and no sooner did the news of the battle of 
Bunker Hill reach London, than Lord Dartmouth com- 
municated the king's orders to Colonel Guy Johnson, the 1775. 
.Superintendent of Indian Affairs in New York, to " lose ^^ "'"'*■ 
no time in taking such steps as may induce them to take 
up the hatchet against his majesty's rebellious subjects in 
America, and to engage them in his majesty's service."! 

On the first of January, 1618, the exclusive charter of 1618. 
the Directors of New Netherland expired by its own lim- Netiiertand 
itation. Year by year the value of the returns from the pir/s.^"^ *" 
North River had been increasing ; and the hope of larger 
gains incited the factors of the company to push their ex- 
plorations further into the interior. Besides visiting, and, 
perhaps, establishing a post among the Esopus Indians, 
Dutch traders had partially explored the rich and extens- 
ive vale of Talpahockin, drained by the upper channels 
of the Delaware ; and it has been asserted that a settle- 
ment was now commenced on the shores of the river op- 
posite to Manhattan, at Bergen, in Scheyichbi, or New 

* This, liowcver, was not the case until after 1630. In IfiSti, it would sce:n that the Mo- 
hawks had only bows and arrows, and other native implements, and did not yet possess 
the fire-anns of Europe.— Wassenaar, xii., 38; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii., 43. 

t Letter of Lord Dartmouth to Colonel Guy .Johnson, dated 24th July, 1775, in London 
Documents, xlv., 211 ; W. W. Campbell, in N. V. U. S. Proc, 1845, Appendix, 167. 



1618. 



90 fflSTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. III. Jei'sey.* But though the Dutch unquestionably had a 
just title to New Nether land by first discovery and sub- 
sequent possession, no systematic agricultural colonization 
of the country had yet been undertaken. The scattered 
agents of the Amsterdam Company still looked merely to 
peaceful traffic, and the cultivation of those friendly rela- 
tions which had been covenanted with their savage allies 
on the banks of the Tawasentha. 

Upon the expiration of their special charter, the mer- 
chants who had formed the United New Netherland Com- 
pany applied to the government at the Hague for a renew- 
al of then* privileges, the value of which they found was 
• daily increasing. But the States Greneral, who were now 
contemplating the grant of a comprehensive charter for a 

4 October. West India Company, avoided a compliance with the pe- 
ns renewal . . „n • • i i ■ i 

refused by titiou. ilus cu-cumstance, however, did not cause even a 

the States c tvt tvt i i i 

General, temporary abandonment of New Netherland, nor weaken 
the title of the Dutch to their American discoveries ; 
though it may have delayed, for a short time, the devel- 
opment of the various resources of the territory. The 
government still continued to encourage trade and com- 
merce on the North River. A few days after a renewal 
of the first New Netherland charter had been refused, 
Hendrick Eelkens, and other participants in the late com- 

9 October, pany, petitioned to be allowed to send their ship, " the 
Scheldt," on a voyage to Manhattan, without any preju- 
dice to or from their former associates ; and the States 
Greneral promptly complied with their prayer.t 

Smith in Up to this pcriod the Dutch were the only Europeans 

gland. who had any accurate knowledge of the regions about the 
North and South Rivers, and of the coasts of Connecticut, 
Rhode Island, and Long Island. English fishing vessels 
had, however, continued to resort to the coasts of Maine ; 
and notwithstanding the failure of Popham's enterprise at 
the Sagadahoc in 1608, the active perseverance of Grorges 
had kept alive the drooping spirits of the old Plymouth 
1614. Company. Early in the spring of 1614, John Smith, dis- 

3 March. 

♦ Moulton, 347. t IIol. Doc. i., 91, 9'J. 



JOHN SMITH IN NEW ENGLAND. QJ 

gusted with his undeserved treatmiait in Virginia, set sail, chap. iit 
with two ships, for the regions allotted in James's charter 
of 1606 to the Plymouth or Northern Company. In an ^"^^■ 
open boat, with eight men, he explored the coasts from 
Penobscot to Cape Cod, while the rest of his company re- 
mained employed in fishing. Returning to England in 
July, Smith left one of his ships behind, in charge of isjuiy. 
Thomas Hunt, to complete a cargo. But Hunt, perfid- 
iously entrapping twenty-seven of the natives on board 
his vessel, carried them to Malaga, and sold them as 
slaves to the Spaniards. Hunt's baseness naturally ex- 
cited against his countrymen the enmity of the savages. 
A ship which had been dispatched by Grorges and Lord 
Southampton, under the command of Captain Hobson, to 
settle a plantation, arriving soon after Hunt's departure, 
was attacked by the natives, and was forced to return to 
England, with Hobson and several of his crew wounded. 

On his return home after a profitable voyage. Smith New En- 
presented a map of the coasts of Maine and Massachusetts f.amed by 
to Prince Charles, who, in the warmth of his admiration, charies. 
bestowed upon the adjoining country the name proposed 
by the enterprising explorer — " New England." By a re- 
markable coincidence, Smith was exhibiting his map, and 
explaining his adventures to the son of King James, in 
London, almost at the very moment that Block was ex- n October 
hibiting the "Figurative Map" of New Netherland, and mock con- 
detailing the discoveries of the Dutch to the States (>en- inXscov-"" 
eral at the Hague. Thus the names of " New Nether- "'' 
land" and " New England" took their places, contempo- 
raneously, in History. 

The Plymouth Company, moved by Smith's representa- 16 lo. 
tions, now attempted to plant again a small colony on the gia^a^r"- 
coast of recently-named New England. But the enter- J^iionLej' 
prise resulted in another disappointment. Smith, while 
on his way to America, was captured at sea by a French 
squadron, and detained a prisoner on board the admiral's 
ship. Escaping in an open boat, he reached Rochelle ; 
whence, returning to London, he published, the next year, 



92 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. III. his "Description of New England." Not discouraged by 

;; 7~ repeated failures and difliculties, he then spent several 

months in vending copies of his book and map, and in 

1617. constant efforts to excite the merchants and noblemen in 
the west of England to new adventures in America. 
Plans of colonization on a large scale were soon formed ; 
Smith was appointed admiral for life ; and the Plymouth 

1618. Company applied to the king for a new charter, similar to 
the one which had proved so advantageous to Virginia. 
But, for two years, the proposition was strenuously and 
successfully opposed, not only by the Virginia Company, 
which desired to retain a monopoly of commerce, but also 
by private traders, who pressed the importance of pre- 
serving the freedom of the North American fisheries. 
Meanwhile New England remained uncolonized.* 

1619. -^^ English vessel was now to sail, for the first time, 
uenner's througli Loug Island Sound, and to visit the coasts which 

voyage. ° ~ ' 

Block had thoroughly explored five years before. In the 
summer of 1619, Captain Thomas Dermer, " employed 
by Sir Ferdinando Gorges and others, for discovery and 
other designs in these parts," after dispatching to En- 

26 May. gland, from the Island of Monhegan, near the Kennebeck, 
a vessel laden with fish and furs, set out on a voyage to 
Virginia, in a small, open pinnace, of about five tons bur 

June. den, "determining, with God's help, to search the coast 
along." In rounding Cape Cod, he " was unawares taken 
prisoner" by the Indians, from whom he ransomed him- 
self by giving several hatchets. After passing Martha's 
Vineyard, Dermer " discovered land about thirty leagues 
in length, heretofore taken for main,!" where he feared he 
would be embayed ; but, by the help of an Indian pilot, 
he reached the sea again at Sandy Hook, " through many 
crooked and straight passages." Near Throg's Neck, " a 
multitude of Indians let fly" at Dermer from the bank ; 
but he came off victorious. In passing through Hell-gate, 

♦ "A Brief Relation," &c., in Masa. Hist. Coll., xix., 5-11 ; Gorges, " Brief Narration," 
in same, xxvi., 56-60 ; Smith, ii., 174-218 ; Bancroft, i., 209-271. 

t Long Island, which Block, in 1G14, had ascertained to be insular, and had laid down 
as such on the " Figurative Map" presented to the States General in that year. 



, DERMER'S VOYAGE TO VIRGINIA. 93 

" a most dangerous cataract among small rocky islands," riiAi- m 
he lost his anchor by the strength of the current, which 

1 PI o 

hurried him on tJ.irough the East River with such swift- 
ness, that, without stopping at Manhattan, he passed, " in 
a short space," into the lower bay, which gave him " light 
of the sea." From Sandy Hook, Dermer coasted safely to : scpt. 
Cape Charles, and the James River ; whence he sent an ac- 
count of his adventures to his friend Purchas at London.* a: Dec. 

Having finished his business in Virginia, " where he was 
kindly welcomed and well refreshed," Dermer put to sea 
again, early the next spring, "resolving to accomplish, in lfi20 
his journey back to New England, what in his last dis- 
c-overy he had omitted. In his passage, he met with cer- 
tain Hollanders, who had a trade in Hudson's River some 
years before that time, with whom he had a conference 
about the state of that coast, and their proceedings with 
those people, whose answer gave him good content." This 
" conference" was held, no doubt, with the Dutch traders 
who were then settled at Manhattan Island. Availing 
himself of the information which he thus obtained, Der- 
mer " betook himself to the following of his business, dis- 
covering many goodly rivers, and exceeding pleasant and 
fruitful coasts and islands, for the space of eighty leagues 
from east to west ; for so that coast doth range along," 
from the North River to Cape Cod. But, before he left 
Manhattan, Dermer took care to warn the Dutch, whom 
he found there in quiet possession, not to continue their 
occupation of what he claimed as English territory. Meet- 
ing, says Grorges, with " some Hollanders that were settled 
in a place we call Hudson's River, in trade with the na- 
tives," Dermer " forbade them the place, as being by his 
majesty appointed to us." The Dutch traders, however, 
replied that " they understood no such thing, nor found 
any of our nation there ; so that they hoped they had not 
oftbnded."t 

* Dermer's letter of 27th December, 1619, in Purchas, iv., 1778, 9, and in ii., N. V. H. 
S. Coll., i., p. 352 ; Morton's Memorial, 56 ; Prince, 154 ; Holmes, i.. 158. 

* Smith, ii., 219; "A Brief Relation," &c., in Mass. Hist. Coll., xix., 11 ; Gorges, 
" Brief Narration," in Mass. Hist. Coll., xxvi., 72 ; De Laet, book iii., cap. iv. It seema 



94 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. III. On reaching New England, Dermer transmitted to 
Grorges " a journal of his proceeding, with the description 
30 June " 0^ ^^® coast all along as he passed."* Upon the receipt 
of this journal, and the previous letter to Purchas, the 
uermer un- Plymouth Company seem, most unjustly, to have con- 
sidered by sidered Dermer as the orisrinal discoverer of Lono^ Island 

the English i ,. i t -n i i -ta 

us the first Sound and of the adiacent coasts. But though Dermer 

explorer of i r- • i 

Long isi- appears to have been the first Englishman that ever sailed 

and Sound. ^^ *^ 

through the Sound, he had been preceded, several years, by 
Block and his Dutch associates ; with the details and re- 
sults of whose earlier enterprise he was made fully ac- 
quainted, in the "conference about the state of that coast" 
which he had with those Hollanders, whom, on his retu^^ 
from Virginia, he found " settled" at Manhattan. 

The first account of his adventurous voyage to Virgini,a, 
which Dermer had sent to Purchas, from his winter quar- 
ters on the James River, seems to have quickened the ef- 

I'atent for forts of Gorgcs and his associates to obtain from the king 

gland. the new privileges for which they had so long pined. 
Constant appeals were addressed to the court for a new 
patent — " such as had been given to Virginia." The old 

3 March. Plymouth adventurers petitioned the king that the terri- 
tory might be called New England, " as by the Prince his 
Highness it hath been named," and asked that its proposed 
boundaries should be settled " from forty to forty-five de- 
grees of northerly latitude, and so from sea to sea through 
the main, as the coast lyeth."t 

At length, after two years entreaty, the king yielded, and 

2.1 July, the solicitor general was directed by the Privy Council to 
prepare a patent for the limits " between the degrees of 

clear that the Dutch, whom Dermer conferred with and " forbade the place," were those 
"settled" at Manhattan, though they do not appear, as yet, to have built any fort there. 
Dermer says nothing about ascending the river, while he speaks distinctly of hi.s explora- 
tions eighty leagues eastward from the North River to Cape Cod. It likewise appears to 
me very probable that Dermcr's account was the only foundation for " Beauchanip Plantag- 
enet's" fabulous story of Argall's visit; see Appendix, Note E. 

* Morton's Memorial, 50-00 ; Gorges, " Uricf Narration," in Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., xxvi., 
63 ; Prince, 157. Holmes, i., 158, misled by Prince, erroneously asserts that Dermer was 
" the first person" who ascertained Long Island to be an island. Bancroft, in a note, ii., 
273, corrects Belknap's similar error. 

t London Doc, i., 6 ; N. Y. Col. MSS., ili., 3 ; Mass. Hist. Coll., \ix., 11, 12. 



THE NEW ENGLAND PATENT OF 1620, 95 

forty and forty-eight."* The original charter of 1606 had cuav. ni. 
fixed the northern boundary of British territory in America ; 
at the parallel of forty-five degrees ; and to that line the ^ ' 
prayer of the petitioners had been limited. Now, the En- 
glish government boldly instructed their law officer to in- 
clude in the new patent all that part of Canada compre- 
hended between the forty-fifth and the forty-eighth de- 
grees. While the details of the proposed instrument were 
yet under advisement, Gorges and his associates probably 
received Dermer's second journal. By this they were in- 30 June 
formed that the Hollanders w^ere fairly " settled in a place" 
which the English called " Hudson's River, in trade with 
the natives ;" and that, upon those Hollanders being for- 
bidden the place as British territory, they had answered 
that " they understood no such thing," nor had they found 
any English subjects there. In truth, since the return of 
the Sagadahoc colonists, no English subjects had perma- 
nently occupied any part of what was called New England. 
On the other hand, it was certain that the Dutch were 
actually in quiet possession of the region " between New 
France and Virginia," and that they had been so for at 
least six years after the building of their fort at Castle 
Island in 1614, and the grant of the New Netherland 
charter by the States G-eneral. • The applicants for the 
New England patent deprecated any further delay. The 
tedious forms of English official law were at length com- 
pleted ; and a royal charter, which included three degrees 
of latitude more than had been originally comprehended 
in the patent of 1606, or been petitioned for by the Plym- 
outh adventurers, was finally engrossed. Late in the au- J^. not 
tumn, the important instrument duly passed the great 
seal, by which the Duke of Lenox, the Marquises of Buck- 
ingham and Hamilton, the Earls of Arundel, Southamp- 
ton, and Warwick, Sir Ferdinando Gorges, Sir Francis 
Popham, and their associates and successors, forty in all, 
were incorporated by the king, as " the council established 

* London Doc, i., 8; N. Y. Col. MSS., iii., 4; Hazard, i., 99; Mass. Hist. Collection, 
xxvi., 64. 



96 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. III. at Plymouth, in the county of Devon, for the planting, 
rulinw and o^overninff of New England in America." 
'" ■ The political powers granted to the new corporation 
were immense. Emigrants who might become inhabit- 
ants of New England were to be subject to the plenary 
authority of the Plymouth council. By the terms of the 
patent, the corporation was invested with the absolute 
propriety and exclusive jm-isdiction of the territories 
thenceforth to be known as " New England in America," 
extending from forty to forty-eight degrees of northerly 
latitude, " and in lengl^h, by all the breadth aforesaid, 
throughout the main land, from sea to sea." It was dis- 
tinctly alleged, in the preliminary recitals of the instru- 
ment, that the king had " been certainly given to under- 
stand" that there were " no other the subjects of any 
Christian king or state, by any authority from their sover- 
eigns, lords, or princes, actually in possession" of any of 
the lands or precincts " between the degrees of forty and 
forty-eight," whereby any right or title might accrue to 
them ; and this bold allegation was made a leading induce- 
ment to the patent. Yet the French occupation of Cana- 
da, as far south as the forty-fifth degree of latitude, was 
notorious to the world ; and Gorges and his associates, 
before their patent was sealed, must have received from 
Dermer the clearest evidence that the Dutch were " set- 
tled" in actual and quiet possession of New Netherland. 
The conveying clause, however — as if future embarrass- 
ment was anticipated — expressly provided that the premi- 
ses intended to bo granted "bo not actually possessed 
or inhabited by any other Christian prince or estate," nor 
be within the bounds of Virginia.* 

Thus the weak-minded King of England attempted to 
affirm a dishonest dominion over nearly all the American 

i:ic Dutch territory north of Virginia. Meanwhile, the Dutch re- 
continue to • 1 • • p ii • • • t ^• • 1 
explore mamed m possession of their original discoveries, and con- 

oriand." 'tinned to explore New Netherland. Cornells Jacobsen 

May, who had been among the first to visit the neighbor- 

* See the patent at length, in Hazard, i., 103-118 ; and in Trumbull's Connecticut, i., 546. 



MAY AT THE SOUTH RIVER. 97 

hood of Montauk Point, in the " Fortune," came out again chap. hi. 
in a new vessel, the "Blyde Boodschap," or Glad Tidings. 
On this voyage he seems to have directed his attention May at the 
chiefly to the coasts and rivers southward of Manhattan, g"""' '^"" 
Besides examining the regions which Hendricksen had ex- 
plored four years before, May also visited the Chesapeake, 
and ascended the James River as high as Jamestown.* 
The bay at the mouth of the South River was soon called 
by the Dutch " New Port May ;" and the point at the 
southern extremity of New Jersey still retains the name of 
" Cape May." Returning to Holland in the summer of capeMay. 
1620, May reported that he had discovered "certain new, 
populous, and fruitful lands" on the South River. The 
owners of the Glad Tidings accordingly applied to the 29 August. 
States General for a special charter in their favor. At the 
same time, Hendrick Eelkens and his partners presented 
an opposing petition, alleging their prior discovery of the 
regions which May had only recently visited, and praying 
that the exclusive right to trade there might be granted to 
them. Upon this, the States General called both parties 
into their presence, and directed them to meet together and special 
arrange their differences. These differences, however, ap- fuscd^' ^^ 
peared to be irreconcilable. After nearly three months' 6 Nov. 
investigation, a committee of the States General reported 
that they had vainly attempted to adjust the conflicting 
claims ; and their High Mightinesses peremptorily refused 
the prayers of both memorials.! But the importance of the 
regions around Manhattan was now becoming more fully 
appreciated at the Hague. In less than seven months from 
the rejection of May's ship-owners' petition, the long-pend- company"' 
mg question 01 a grand commercial organization was nnal- by the 
ly settled ; and an ample charter gave the West India crai. 
Company almost unlimited powers to colonize, govern, and 1621. 
defend New Netherland. 

* De Laet, xiii., p. 93. t Hoi. Doc, i., 104-106 ; Wassenaar, ix., 124. 

G 



98 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



CHAPTER IV. 

1620. 

Chap. IV. The United Netherlands now ranked among the fore- 
most nations of the world. They had signalized the com- 

Prosperity . . , . 

of the mencement of their newly-recognized sovereignty by es- 

Dutch re- JO S J .7 

public. tablishing diplomatic relations with most of the neighbor- 
ing courts of Europe ; and distant powers had begun to 

1610. seek their alliance. The King of Morocco early sent am- 
bassadors to the states, and negotiated a liberal treaty ; 

1612. while the sultan opened to the Dutch the commerce of the 
Levant, which before had been monopolized by England 
and France. With Wurtemburg and Brandenburg a mu- 
tual freedom of trade was soon adjusted ; and, in a me- 
morial to King James, Raleigh bore eloquent testimony to 
the large policy of the early tariffs of the Netherlands, de- 
claring that " the low duties of these wise states draw all 
traffic to them, and the great liberty allowed to strangers 
makes a continual mart." As sagacious as he was patri- 
otic, Olden Barneveldt had consolidated the independence 

1616. of his country by procuring from the weakness of James 
the restitution of the Brielle, Vlissingen, and Rammekens, 
which had been pledged to Elizabeth as a security for the 
repayment of her advances to the United Provinces. The 
surrender of these " cautionary towns"- — a measure which 
excited murmurs and discontent in England, and aston- 
ishment in other nations — gave intense satisfaction to the 
people of the Netherlands, and added a new impulse to the 
commercial prosperity which seven years of peace had es- 
tablished and confirmed. The flag of the republic floated 
on every sea — from Japan to Manhattan, from Nova Zem- 



THE REFORMATION IN THE NETHERLANDS. 99 

bla to Cape Hoorn — her ports were crowded with richly- chap. iv. 
laden shipping ; her warehouses were filled with the costly ~" 

products of the East ; and the markets, which formerly "^ ' 
knew only the furs of Muscovy, had already become famil- 
iar with the peltry of New Netherland.* 

But while Europe was watching with jealous interest 
the triumphant progress of the United Provinces, a cause 
was secretly at work within, which threatened more evil 
to the nation than all the might of foreign foes. During 
the greater part of the war with Spain, religious differences aeiigiouu 

(iissGn~ 

had, more or less, prevailed in the Netherlands. When the sions. 
truce was finally signed, men's- minds, relieved from the 
absorbing consideration of martial aftairs, were soon eager- 
ly engaged in fierce debates on articles of faith ; and the 
theological controversy waxed as bitter in spirit as the po- 
litical contest which had just been settled. 

Early in the fifth century. Saint Augustine opened the Peiagian- 
famous controversy upon the " heresies" which the En- 
glish monk Pelagius had just broached. Augustine main- 
tained the doctrines of original sin, and the predestination 
of the elect to salvation. Pelagius denied them. The 
Churches of the East generally supported Pelagius ; those 
of the West, Augustine. Luther, a disciple of Augustine, 
I affirmed the doctrines of the patron of his order ; and Cal- 
! vin, following the great Father of the Reformation, with Calvinism. 
severe logic carried them out to their extreme conse- 
quences. Besides their distinctions in doctrine, the two 
Reformers differed also in their views respecting church 
government and the ceremonies of worship ; the some- 
what conservative opinions of the leader of the G-erman 
Protestants, upon these points, contrasting strongly with 
the more thorough system of the Genevese theologian. 

Wessel Gransevoort and Rudolf Agricola, of Groningen, The Refor- 
had already begun to teach evangelical faith. When Houand. 
the writings of Luther were printed in Friesland, and 1^1°- 
circulated in Holland, Erasmus, though at heart not op- 
posed to many of the views of the G-erman Reformer, 

* Van Meteren, xxxi., 662 ; xxxii., 694, 707 ; Davies, ii., 446, 452 ; McCullagh, ii., 251 



100 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. IV. thought that the cause of truth would be better promoted 
by less violent proceedings. Interposing between the fol- 
■ lowers of Luther and the adherents of the Pope, Erasmus 
drew upon himself, for a time, the ill will of both parties. 
The mild impartiality of Adrian II., however, saw and ad- 
mitted the necessity of correcting the abuses in the Church ; 
1522. and the Rotterdam scholar was invited to Rome to assist 
the Pontiff with his advice. But Erasmus, remaining in 
Holland, devoted his admirable talents to the cause of Re- 
form in his own land. The seeds of truth, which had 
germinated there, could not be rooted out by all the efforts 
of the inquisitors of Charles V. and Philip II. The suc- 
cessive edicts of the kings of Spain but planted more deep- 
ly in the hearts of the people the emancipating principles 
of the Reformation. Persecution but confirmed then be- 
lief, and invigorated their zeal. The old nobility and the 
beneficed prelates, dreading a change which might dam- 
age their secular interests, generally adhered to the Pope ; 
The Re- but the popular movement carried along with it the infe- 
Dutch rior clergy. Mind acted on mind, and prescription yielded 
^'^ ' to the irresistible impulse. A Confession of Faith, modeled 
after that of the Calvinistic Church of France, was adopted, 
1561. in 1561, by the Protestants of the Netherlands, who thence- 
forward went by the name of "the Reformed,"* 
First The first public meeting and preaching of the Reformed 

otthe b'I in Holland took place in a field near the city of Hoorn, on 
1566. ^^® fourteenth of July, 1566. The rumor of this bold step 
soon spread over the province, and Protestants at Haerlem, 
Leyden, and other towns, followed the example of their 
brethren at Hoorn. Ministers were presently settled in 
the chief cities ; and the Reformed doctrine was openly 
preached in the grand cathedrals which the Vandal fervor 
The of Iconoclasts had despoiled. The Psalms were translated 

translated. Into Low Dutch, and sung by great congregations. Thus, 
by degrees, the minds of the people were fully prepared for 
1573. the important step which the states took, in the year 1573, 

* Brandt's History of the Reformation, ii., 64, 84; v., 254; Davies, i., 354-356, 446; 
ii., 452-454. 



^LISHMENT OF THE REFORMED RELIGION. IQl 

of expelling the Roman Catholics from the churches. Yet chap. iv. 
this measure was carried with great difficulty, and after 
much opposition ; and it was justified only by the consid- 
erations of pressing political necessity, and of the danger 
of trusting too much, during the war with Spain, to ec- 
clesiastics who had sworn allegiance to the Pope, and who 
remained firm in that allegiance. The Reformed religion, Estabush- 
as taught in Greneva and elsewhere, was publicly estab- Srmcd' 
lished in Holland about the close of the year. At the'^^ ^'°"' 
same time, and notwithstanding the acts of severity which 
they felt themselves compelled to use against the Papists, 
the people were of opinion " not only that all religions 
ought to be tolerated, but that all restraint in matters of 
religion was as detestable as the Inquisition itself."* 

Two years after the famous Union of Utrecht, in 1579, 
the Prince of Orange, on accepting the office of stadthold- 1581. 
er, which was formally confirmed to him by the States of ^■^"'^' 
Holland, proclaimed that he would "maintain and promote 
the Reformed religion, and no other ;" but " that he should 
not suffer any man to be called to account, molested, or 
injured, for his faith and conscient;e." In a few days, the 
noble manifesto of the States General announced to theaejuiy. 
world that the Dutch had openly rejected Philip as their 
king, and that the people of the Netherlands were absolved 
from all allegiance to then* former sovereign. This obliged 
the stadtholder to issue a proclamation prohibiting the pub- 26 Dec. 
lie exercise of the Romish religion ; nevertheless, the same 
instrument declared that it was not intended "to impose Freedom or 

1 , .... J .. J , conscience 

any burden, or make inquisition into any man's con- proclaimed, 
science." While Calvinism was thus established as the 
national religion of Holland, the followers of all other modes 
of faith were freely allowed to conduct their worship in 
private houses, which were frequently as spacious as the 
churches themselves. Under this system, there was, in 
fact, an entire liberty in the use of diverse services. Hooft, 
the burgomaster of Amsterdam, in a public address to his 1598. 
colleagues, declared that magistrates should not " pretend ^ ■'^"' 

* Brandt, vi., 318 ; x., 549, 550; Davies, i., 526-530, 541. 



102 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. IV. to buUd up living temples to the Lord by force, and by 
external arms ;" for, in their conflict with Spain, the Dutch 
had openly maintained that " no princes nor magistrates 
had any authority over the consciences of their subjects 
in matters of religion."* 

Thus religious freedom was, from the first, recognized 
as a universal right, and accompanied the spread of the 
Toleration Reformation in Holland. If Grermany nursed the infancy 
religions, of the Protcstaut faith, the Netherlands developed its true 
proportions, and defended its maturer growth. "Wliile the 
Dutch, with dauntless courage, were breastmg the power 
of Spain, they habitually extended to every sect the same 
liberty in matters of belief which they had claimed of 
Philip as their own right. Though Calvinism was their 
established religion, Calvinism was not their exclusive re- 
ligion. Battling against a foreign bigot, it was only nat- 
ural that the people of the Netherlands should generally 
have repudiated bigotry at home. And this policy pro- 
duced the happiest effects. Occasional instances of sect- 
arian excess were not, indeed, wanting. Yet, by degrees, 
Papists learned to think that Lutherans and Calvinists 
might be in the way of salvation ; Protestants forbore to 
call the Pope anti- Christ, and Romanists idolaters ; the 
Calvinist and the Lutheran emulated each other in large 
Christian charity ; and the Jew, stopping his wandering 
steps and forgetting his exclusiveness, rested in Holland, 
Holland an a faithful and patriotic citizen. The Low Countries soon 
the per'se-"^ becamc an asylum for fugitives from persecution in other 
lands ; and the Dutch won the honorable distinction of 
European reproach for their system of universal religious 
toleration. Amsterdam was called "a common harbor of 
all opinions, of all heresies." Holland was stigmatized as 
" a cage for unclean birds." The Netherlands became 
notorious among the bigots of Christendom for such com- 
prehensive liberality in conscience and opinion, that it was 
observed that " all strange religions flock thither." In- 

* Brandt, xiii., 075-677 ; xvi., 825-834 ; Van Meteren, x., 209; Bentivoglio, ii., 2 ; Da- 
vies, ii., 65, 141. 



THE REFORMED DUTCH CHURCH CALVINISTIC. 103 

deed, to such an unlimited extent was charity displayed chap. iv. 
toward all methods of relisfious belief, that a liberal-mind- ~~ 

ed English statesman, contrasting the narrow sectarianism 
of his own land with the enlarged Catholic spirit of Hol- 
land, could not help declaring that " the universal Church 
is only there."* 

This magnanimous system of toleration remained a con- 
stant and remarkable characteristic of the people of the 
Netherlands, except upon one memorable occasion, when 
the Dutch forgot, for a space, their cherished maxim. Yet, 
while religious differences grew warm among the Protest- 
ants of Holland, neither Gromarists nor Arminians, in their 
bitterest strife, thought of shutting the gates of the Low 
Countries against the persecuted of other lands ; and the 
consequences of that famous theological controversy gave 
all parties among the Dutch so terrible a warning, that 
the suggestions of bigotry ever afterward remained un- 
heeded. "It is certain," says De Witt, "that freedom of 
religion having always been greater in Holland than any 
where else, it hath brought in many inhabitants, and 
driven out but few."t 

From the first, the majority of the ministers of the Re- Calvinism 
formed Dutch Church were Calvinistic. At the earliest Dutch cier- 
synod which the clergy of Holland and Zealand held in 
1574, at Dordrecht, upon their own call, and without the 
approbation of the States of Holland, it was agreed that 
the Heidelberg Catechism should be taught in all the 
churches, and that all the ministers should subscribe the 
Netherland Confession of Faith, and promise obedience to 
the Classes. The preaching of free will was soon consid- 
ered to be heresy ; it nearly produced a schism at Utrecht, 1593 



* Davies, iii., 383; Bishop Hall, vi., 180; Baylie's Dissuasive; Owen Feltham. An- 
drew Marvell, in his " Character of Holland," has these quaint lines : 

" Hence Amsterdam, Turk, Christian, Pagan, Jew, 
Staple of sects and mint of schism grew ; 
That bank of conscience, where not one so strange 
Opinion, but finds credit and exchange ; 
In vain for Catholics ourselves we bear — 
The universal Church is only there." 
t De Witt, i., 18. 



104 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. IV. which WES healed only by the zealous exertions of Uyten- 

bosfart and Junius.* 
The Goma- When Jacobus Arminius was recommended for the Pro- 
^|^[®j^^jf„g fessorship of Theology at Leyden, made vacant by the 
death of Junius, in 1602, his appointment was opposed by 
Franciscus G^omarus, who filled another theological chair, 
and who hesitated to receive as a colleague a person whose 
orthodoxy was doubted. The scruples of Gromarus were, 
however, overcome ; and the next year Arminius, upon 
promising to teach nothing but the " received doctrine" 
of the Church, became professor. At first his public 
preaching was unexceptionable ; but in private, he at- 
tacked some of the prominent points of the established 
1604. creed. At length, in the spring of 1604, he openly and 
boldly set forth doctrines at variance with those of Calvin 
respecting election and predestination. This aroused the 
warm opposition of his colleague Gromarus, who published 
a thesis in which the distinctive tenets of Calvinism were 
vehemently urged. The strife between the professors soon 
led to exasperating disputes between their pupils, who, as 
it often happens, surpassed their teachers in zeal and an- 
imosity, as much as they fell short of them in knowledge. 
The feud extended as the Arminian sentiments spread. 
The ministers of the churches took the one side or the 
other ; and the controversy, which at first was carried on, 
in Latin, within the walls of the university, by degrees 
reached the ears of the people in furious vernacular from 
the pulpits.t 

* Brandt, xi., 554 ; xiv., 713 ; xv., 786 ; Acta Synodi Dord. The form of ecclesiastical 
government established by the Reformed Church of the Netherlands resembled, in some 
respects, that of a representative republic. The spiritual and temporal affairs of eacli 
congregation were managed by its permanent minister, and by ciders and deacons, elect- 
ed for limited terms of service, by the members of the church. The minister, elders, and 
deacons formed the " Consistory" or governing council of each congregation. A " Clas- 
ses" was composed of all the ministers, and of an elder delegated ft-om each consistory 
within a certain district. It had large original and appellate jurisdiction ; it examined 
and ordained candidates in theology ; and, generally, decided in cases of discipline. Su- 
perior in authority were the " Synods," which were composed of ministers and elders de- 
puted by the several classes within particular bounds. The supremo power of the Church 
was vested in a " General Synod," consisting of clerical and lay dolegatca flrom the several 
classes composing the particular synods. This sy.stem, substantially, prevails in the Re- 
formed Protestant Dutch Church in North America. 

t Hist. Synod. Dord., translated by Dr. Scott, 99-106, edit. Philad., 1841. The charge 



THE GOMARISTS AND REMONSTRANTS. 105 

Another dispute arose, before long, respecting the Hei- chap. iv. 
delbers: Catechism and the Confession of Faith, which 
had been adopted by the synod held at Dordrecht in 1574. 
The Gomarists regarded these as unalterable formularies 
of belief ; the Arminians demanded their revision. Things 
soon came to such a pass that the States of Holland in- 
terfered, and appointed a conference between the rival 
professors, to be held at the Hague, before their Supreme 1608. 
Council, assisted by four ministers. The meekness of 
Arminius gained him an advantage in debate over the 
sterner G-omarus, who injured his cause by violent de- 
nunciation. Upon the report of the council, Barneveldt 
recommended mutual forbearance to the disputants, prom- 
ising that their differences should be reconciled by a na- 
tional Synod. Little good, however, followed the confer- 
ence. The classis of Alckmaer soon afterward resolved, 
that all the ministers within its jurisdiction should sign a 
declaration that the Catechism and Confession of Faith 
agreed, in every particular, with the word of G-od ; and 
five ministers, who refused to subscribe, were forthwith 
suspended. The censured ministers appealed to the 
States of Holland, who required the classis to report its 
proceedings to them, and meanwhile to vacate its sen- 
tence of suspension. But the Synod of North Holland 
confirmed the action of its subordinate classis, and disre- 
garded the reiterated injunctions of the states.* 

Thus the dispute finally assumed a political aspect. The dispute 
The Arminians, acknowledging the right of the civil pow- political. 
er to decide points of religious doctrine, invoked its pro- 
of uncharitaweness has been made so constantly against Gomarus and his friends, that it 
is only justice to them to insert an extract from a posthumous tractate of Arminius him- 
self, for the communication of which I am indebted to the Rev. Dr. Forsyth, of Princeton. 
It shows that the synod's friendly overtures were peremptorily rejected by Arminius. 
"On the 30th of June, 1605, there came to me, at Leyden, three deputies of the Synod of 
South Holland, and declared, in presence of two deputies fVom the Synod of North 
Holland, that the Leyden students, in their examinations for licensure before several 
of the classes, were observed to give new answers upon some questions, contrary to 
the doctrines of the Church, and which answers the students declared they had learned 
from me. They therefore asked me to meet them in a friendly conference, in order to un- 
derstand what there was in it, and how the thing could be remedied. Hereupon I gave 
them for answer, that I regarded such an expedient as unfit." — Verclaringhe Jacobi Ar- 
minii, p. 2. Leyden, 1610. 

♦ Brandt, xvii., 67-90 ; Hist. Syn. Dord , 107-138 ; Davies, ii., 452-460. 



106 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. IV. tection and support. The Gromarists insisted that eccle- 
siastical authority belonged, solely and exclusively, to the 
■ consistories, the classes, and the synods of the Church. 
The municipal governments generally, and very naturally, 
sided with the Arminians, who had thus adroitly flattered 
them; but the Gromarists, who formed a large majority 
among the clergy and the people, retained the almost en- 
tire control of the judicatories of the Church. Other 
classes followed the example of that of Alckmaer, and re- 
quired all their ministers to subscribe to the Catechism 
and Confession. And now, the truce with Spain having 
exempted the nation from the dangers of war, those minds 
which had been chiefly occupied by the great contest for 
civil and religious liberty were soon engaged in a vehe- 
ment conflict on abstruse points of metaphysical theology. 
Every where the pulpits echoed denunciations against the 

1609. Arminians, which even the death of their amiable leader 
19 October. ^^^ j^^^ abate. To relieve themselves i'om misrepresenta- 

1610. tions of their faith, the Arminians, the next year, present- 
ed a formal remonstrance to the States of Holland and 
"West Friesland, setting forth the five prominent points of 
doctrine in which they differed from the Reformed Church, 

The Re- and which soon obtained for them the name that, down 

mon- 

sirants. to the prcscnt day, has distinguished them in Holland, 
" the Remonstrants."* 

The chair of Divinity at Ley den, made vacant by the 
death of Arminius, was soon proposed to be filled by the 
appointment of the learned Conrad Vorstius, who, having 
been suspected of Socinianism, was even more obnoxious 
interfer- than his prcdeccssor. The pedantic King of England, to 
King whom the candidate for the professorship had given great 
offense by the publication of a theological treatise, could 
not resist the temptation to meddle as a polemic. He in- 

1611. structed his ambassador, Winwood, to press the States 
General for the banishment of Vorstius ; and even hinted, 
in a letter to their High Mightinesses, that the "arch her- 

* Brandt, xviii., 92 ; xix., 130 ; Hist. Syn. Dord., 139-154 ; Davies, ii., 461-463 ; Mo- 
sheim, v., 444, 445. 



1611. 



MAURICE AND BARNEVELDT. 107 

etic" deserved a crown of martyrdom. The king's perti- CHi.p.iv. 
nacious demands were warmly opposed by Barneveldt, 
but strongly supported by Prince Maurice, the stadtholder, 
who thus conciliated the good-will of James. The States, 
unwilling to offend their powerful English ally, consented 
that Vorstius should retire ; and Simon Episoopius was 
appointed in his place.* 

The leading statesmen of the Netherlands could not 
avoid taking part in the religious dispute which, by this 
time, had begun to distract all ranks of their countrymen. 
Barneveldt and G-rotius, desiring to curb the ambition of Bameveidt 
the stadtholder by the influence of the towns, naturally tius swe 
sided with the Remonstrants, whose views were generally Remon- 
favored by the municipal governments. But the clergy, 
excluded from political office, had generally been in active 
opposition to the civil authorities ; and had always been 
zealous partisans of the stadtholders. Maurice, remem- 
bering this, and knowing that a large majority of the 
ministers of the Reformed Church were hostile to the 
tenets of Arminius, naturally sided with the G-omarists. 

From the period of the truce with Spain, the prince had prince 
borne ill will against Barneveldt, whose influence in theanTiB^ne- 
governments of most of the towns was enough of itself to ""^ 
arouse the jealousy of a less ambitious politician. Soon 
after the stadtholder's splendid victory over the Spanish 
forces at Nieuport, some of the wisest patriots of Holland, 
among whom were Barneveldt and Grrotius, began to en- 
tertain suspicions that Maurice would endeavor to use his 
popularity with the army as a means of enabling him to 
grasp more political power than would be consistent with 
the liberties of his country. Wlien proposals were soon 
afterward made for an accommodation with Spain, the ad- 
vocate, with many other enlightened Dutch statesmen, be- 
came as active promoters of a peace as, not long before, 
they had been ardent supporters of the war. The martial 
successes of the Dutch had begun to modify their sober 

* Winwood's Memorial, iii.. 317, 340 ; Hist. Syn. Dord., 155-182 ; Davies, ii., 463-167 ; 
Neal's Puritans, i., 259, Harpers' edition. 



108 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. IV. national habits, and honest patriotism feared a continu- 
ance of the tempting strife. The burdens of a war-tax 
had become ahnost insupportable, and industry was crip- 
pled, while gallantry alone was rewarded. But, above all, 
it was apprehended that a well-organized army, flushed 
with continual victories, and led by so ambitious a general 
as Maurice, might soon read to the Dutch Republic the 
lessons which praetorian cohorts had read to Rome. Bar- 
neveldt and his friends, therefore, eagerly desired a peace, 
and the truce of 1609 was signed. As stadtholder, Mau- 
rice was the commander of the military force of the re- 
public ; an end of hostilities would, he foresaw, deprive 
him of a large share of his authority and influence ; he, 
therefore, opposed the truce. Finding himself thwarted 
on every side by Barneveldt, he did not disguise his hatred 
of the patriotic advocate ; who, in turn, could not conceal 
his suspicions that the prince desired to prolong the war 
from motives of private interest and personal ambition. 
Hence arose a mutual antipathy, which soon deepened, on 
the side of the stadtholder, into a sentiment of intense an- 
imosity against Barneveldt, and which the sacrifice of its 
hated object at length could scarcely appease.* 

Swayed by such feelings of jealousy and hatred, it was 
only natural that the prince should take a side, in the great 
religious controversy which was distracting the country, 
opposite to that upheld by those statesmen who had thwart- 
ed his political views. Other reasons besides his sympathy 
with the established clergy, and his inveterate personal 
1616. detestation of the advocate, induced Maurice to espouse 

Maurice -^^ith zcal the causo of the &omarists, or Contra-Remon- 
strants ; which, from the time of the stadtholder's open 
accession, daily gained ground. Sir Dudley Carleton, who 
had succeeded Winwood as English ambassador at the 
Hague, also used the influence of his high position very 
unscrupulously against the Remonstrants, and took every 
occasion to strengthen the prejudices which had already 
seriously affected the political standing of Barneveldt. 

* Grotiua, ix. , 571 ; xv., 716 ; Davies, ii., 358, 406, 407, 469, 471. 



sides with 
the Go- 
marists. 



THE SYNOD OF DORDRECHT. 109 

One of Carleton's motives for this conduct was, no doubt, chap. iv. 
the chagi-in of his sovereign for his weakness in yielding 
to the advocate's diplomatic skill in the negotiation for the 
surrender of the cautionary towns. The nobles, the states, 
and the municipal governments, which sided with the ad- 
vocate, were libeled without stint ; Barneveldt himself was 
vindictively attacked ; and the King of England again in- continued 
flamed the mischief by his officious personal intermed- ence of 
dling. Aware that the question of a national synod had James, 
now well-nigh replaced the other points in dispute, James, 
in March, 1617, wrote a long letter to the States General, 1617. 
in which he strongly urged the measure as the most ef- 
fectual means of establishing the Reformed faith — the 
" only solid cement" of a good understanding between the 
two countries. The arguments of the king were warmly 
supported by his ambassador ; a national synod was ap- 
pointed to be held at Dordrecht ; and Maurice, now be- 
come Prince of Orange by the death of his elder brother 
Philip, made a tour through the towns of the Netherlands 
to gain their unanimous consent to the measure.* 

The Synod of Dordrecht assembled on the thnteenth of 
November, 1618. It sat for more than seven months, at a 1618. 
cost to the republic of a million of guilders. Foreign J/'oor^"*^ 
Churches were invited to commission delegates to the syn- "^'■•"^**'- 
od, and they all complied with the request. The Churches 
of the Palatinate, Hesse, Switzerland, Bremen, and Emb- 
den, and the King of Great Britain, as the head of the En- 
glish and Scotch establishments, were all represented. The 
Reformed Church of France appointed delegates ; but they 
were forbidden by Louis XIII. to go to Dordrecht, and the 
places appropriated for them were left vacant during the 
sessions of the synod. The head of the Church of En- 
gland was represented by George Carleton, bishop of Llan- 
dafF; Joseph Hall, dean of Worcester; Samuel Ward, arch- 
deacon of Taunton ; and John Davenant, professor of The- 
ology at Cambridge ; while Walter Balcancall was dele- 
gated by the king in the name of the Church of Scotland. 

* Carleton's Letters, 87, 88, 123 ; Hist. Syn. Dord., 183-239 ; Davics, ii., 467^89. 



110 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



1618. 



Chap. IV. After One hundred and fifty-four sessions — in the course of 
which the Heidelberg Catechism and the Confession of 
Faith were fully approved and ratified, and the Remon- 
strants pronounced innovators, disturbers of the Church 
and nation, obstinate and rebellious, leaders of faction, 
teachers of false doctrine, and schismatics — the business 
of this famous Assembly was closed on the ninth of May, 
1619. 1619 ; and Bogerman, its president, dismissed the foreign 
^^' members with the startling declaration that " its marvel- 
ous labors had made Hell tremble."* 
The syn- That the proceedings of the Synod of Dort against the 
ceedings Armiuians were inexorably severe, ought not to be, and 
can not be denied. They formed a singular and memo- 
rable exception to the characteristic system of toleration 
which so nobly distinguished Holland among the nations 
of the earth. It would be difficult to repeat similar pro- 
ceedings at the present day. At the same time, it must be 
candidly admitted that the synod exercised upon the Re- 
monstrants only that ecclesiastical discipline which any 
Church may lawfully exercise upon those under its juris- 
diction, who reject or depart from its standards of doctrine. 
The Synod of Dort, in its supreme function, constitution- 
ally declared that the Remonstrants, who formed a very 
small minority among the clergy, and whose followers 
were scarcely one in thirty among the body of the people, 
should not teach false doctrine and heresy within the pale 
of the National Church, and under its apparent sanction. 
It was in their claimed character of members of the es- 
tablished Reformed Dutch Church, that the Remonstrants 
received the censures of that Church. If they could not 
approve of its standards of religion, and could not teach 
in conformity to them, they should have resigned their liv- 
ings and professorships, and have preached and taught else- 
where. Though the Dutch had a national religion, they 
had no Statute of Uniformity. Had the Remonstrants hon- 
estly and openly separated themselves from the Established 
Church, whose doctrine they could not maintain, they 

* Brandt, xli., Oil, " Een rccht wondcrbaarlyck werck 't wclck de helle doet beven." 



DEATH OF BARNEVELDT. HI 

would undoubtedly have found, readily and at once, the chap. iv. 
same toleration which other sects enjoyed in Holland, and 
which, after they had been judicially pronounced schismat- 
ics, they did enjoy, and do notoriously enjoy, to this day. 

The fate of Barneveldt was soon sealed. He had been 
arbitrarily arrested, by order of the Prince of Orange, in 
August, 1618, as he was entering the Assembly of the Pro- 
vincial States of Holland. The arrest of their own advo- 
cate drew from the states an earnest remonstrance against 
such an open invasion of their privileges. But remon- 
strance was unavailing. The stadtholder was determined 
to gratify to the utmost his personal jealousy and revenge ; 
and Barneveldt was illegally detained three months in 
prison, to insure the appointment of an adverse tribunal. 
After forty-eight interrogatories, the advocate was con- 
demned to death, upon a series of political charges, the 
only capital one of which, and the one which before his 
trial his enemies had most vehemently urged — that he had 
treasonably corresponded with Spain — was entirely aban- 
doned. On the morning of the thirteenth of May, 1619, 13 May. 
in the seventy-second year of his age, Barneveldt was be- Barneveldt. 
headed on a scaffold erected in the hollow square in front 
of the great hall of the States Greneral. As he walked 
calmly to his place of execution, and looked around upon 
the buildings which had witnessed his triumphs as a 
statesman, the contrast of his unworthy doom with the 
glorious recollections of his career, wrrung from him the 
memorable exclamation, " Oh Grod ! what, then, is man !"* 
Popular tradition, though its truth is doubted, to this day 
asserts that the insatiate vengeance of Maurice demanded 
a sight of the blood of his venerable victim ; and the vis- 
itor at the Hague is still shown a little window in one of 
the turrets, overlooking the quadrangle of the Binnenhof, 
from which the prince is said to have witnessed the exe- 
cution of one of the truest patriots and most upright states- 
men that ever fell a sacrifice to the violence of party rage, 
or the unscrupulousness of political ambition. 

* Davies, ii., 490-525 ; Van der Kemp's "Maurice," iv., 119-130, 317 ; Grattan, 241-2. 



112 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. IV. In the midst of the religious and political differences 
wliich were thus distracting all classes in the Netherlands, 
a number of English Puritans, weary of hierarchal op- 
pression, and smarting under the vulgar insults of their 
bigoted king, resolved to emigrate to Holland. 

At the command of Henry VHL, who, for opposing Lu- 

1521. ther, had received from Leo X. the title of " Defender of 
the Faith," the English clergy had been obliged to abjure 

1534. the supremacy of the Pope. Yet the Anglican Church, 
under Henry, though forced to substitute the supremacy 
of the King for that of the Pontiff, retained, to a great ex- 
tent, the peculiar doctrines and the gorgeous ceremonial 
of Rome. As the Reformation advanced, further changes 

1548. became necessary ; and, under Edward VI., Cranmer ar- 

1552. ranged the terms of a compromise, which produced the 
The present Church of England. Like all compromises, the 

England, new establishment rejected extremes. A hierarchal con- 
stitution was retained, and those beautiful collects, which 
had " soothed the griefs of forty generations of Christians," 
were translated into the English tongue ; while Articles 

1562. of Religion were adopted, and afterward twice deliber- 

1571. ately revised and ratified, in which the most zealous Cal- 
vinist might find his own doctrines affirmed. Thus the 
Established Church of England took a middle position be- 
tween the immutable Church of Rome and the Reformed 
Churches of the Continent. 

But when the English version of the Bible was printed, 

1539. and began to be generally read by the people, there were 
numbers of persons who thought that the founders of the 
Anglican Church had not gone far enough in their re- 
forms. Those persons, regarding the Holy Scriptures with 
the veneration due to a divinely-inspired book, looked 
upon them as alone furnishing a complete manual in the- 
ology, in morals, and in political science. Relying, per- 
haps too confidently, upon their own interpretations, they 
judged that, by the standard of those Scriptures, the En- 
glish Church was not a pure Church ; and that, in retain- 
ing prelacy, ceremonies, and other " remains of anti-Christ " 



THE PURITANS IN ENGLAND. 113 

she was attempting to serve both Grod and Baal. They Chap. iv. 
found no warrant in the Bible for wearing the surplice ; "TTZT" 
they thought that the Book of Common Prayer savored 
too much of the Missal and the Breviary ; and they in- 
sisted that the interests of a pure religion demanded the 
extremest simplicity in all its external services. Hence ' 
they obtained the name of " Puritans." The term event- 1564. 
ually designated all those " who endeavored, in their de-^ns.^"" 
votions, to accompany the minister with a pure heart, and 
who were remarkably holy in their conversations."* 

Returning to England, after the accession of Elizabeth, views of 
from their exile on the Continent, where they had em- tans, 
braced the most rigid views of Calvin, the Puritan leaders 
seemed to believe that the Reformation would not be com- 
plete unless every thing that might suggest a single rec- 
ollection of Romanism should be discarded. They reject- 
ed, as unscriptural, the claims of the bishops to ecclesi- 
astical superiority. They abhorred priestly garments as 
badges of popery. They denounced the Prayer Book and 
" other popish and anti-Christian stuft " of the English 
establishment. They felt themselves called upon to re- 
form the Reformation in England, and destroy all "relics 
of the Man of Sin." Forms and ceremonies, by degrees, 
became as important, in their eyes, as creeds and doc- 
trines. Things indiflferent became things essential. They 
seemed to think that a sour austerity on earth would win 
for them, more certainly, an eternal inheritance in heaven. 
They appeared to fancy themselves God's special and pe- 
culiar people, and more holy than their neighbors. They 
seemed to prefer the Old Testament and the argumenta- 
tive Epistles of Paul, to the Gospels and the milder Epis- 
tles of John. In the end, many of them conceived that 
the same polity which God had ordained for Israel before 
the coming of the Messiah, should govern both Church and 
State under the Christian dispensation. More than most 
sectarians, they were sincere and vehement in their belief, 

* Neal's Puritans, i., Preface, x, Harpers' ed. ; Lingard, Baudry's ed., vi., 235, 248, 304; 
vii., 31-33, 103-108, 297-300, 360 ; viii., 70 ; Macaulay , i., 49-58 ; BancrofI, i., 275-285. 

H 



114 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. IV. and severe and inflexible in their practice. More than 
most enthusiasts, they were intrepid and persevering in 
their fervid zeal, "With intense earnestness, they labored 
to subject political power to the supreme control of an as- 
cetic religion. Confident that they alone were right, they 
acted out their part with consistent energy. In a country 
which was not distinguished for toleration, they claimed 
for themselves immunities which, afterward, they seemed 
unwilling to yield to others. Eventually they grasped the 
authority for which they longed, and retorted upon their 
adversaries the wrongs of their old oppressors. Yet the 
controversy which the Puritans commenced was only " the 
wind by which truth is winnowed." Their spirit of in- 
quiry and dissent added a significant impulse to the grand 
cause of civil liberty. Their earnestness may have carried 
them beyond just limits ; but their very fanaticism was 
decreed to be one of the instruments of Providence in work- 
ing out great good to man. And though we may not all 
applaud their singularities or justify their intolerance, we 
should not withhold our respect for the sincere fervor with 
which they advocated their system, the unfaltering con- 
stancy with which they endured persecution, and the firm 
will and stern resolution with which they maintained 
their principles.* 
1582. Before long, the Puritans, who seem to have embodied 
lanssepa- rather the Saxon than the Norman type of the English 
tbe^ Church character, began to separate themselves openly from the 
"' ^°^'''"'*' Church, whose government and ritual they condemned, 
but whose doctrines they could not wholly disavow. They 
refused to conform to the statutes of the realm ; and the 
law was severely enforced. Penalties which the Puritans 
had advocated against the Roman Catholics were exacted 
from themselves. Brown, the leader of the Separatists, 

* Those who desire detailed information respecting the Puritans, may consult Neal's 
History ; Macaulay's Essay on Milton, in the Edinburgh Review, No. 84, for August, 
1825 ; Hume, v., 87-92 ; Lingard, viii., 72, 132-308 ; i.\., 31, 179, 351 ; Macaulay's England, 
i., 48-62, 74-82, 160-106 ; Bancroft, i., 274-.S06, 460^09 ; llildrcth, i., 153-156 ; Young's 
"Chronicles of the Pilgrims," and "Chronicles of Massachusetts ;" Winthrop; Morton; 
^ lluhbard ; The Massachusetts Historical Collections ; The North American Review ; Colt's 
" I'uritanism ;" and Hall's " Puritans and their Principles." 



PURITANS EMIGRATE TO HOLLAND. 1X5 

recanted his opinions ; and the backsliding apostate was chap. iv. 
again received into the bosom of the Established Church. 
Nevertheless, most of the Non-conformists earnestly main^ -luo«5. 
tained their ground. Opposition became one of their car- 
dinal maxims. Persecution soon followed non-conformity. 
But persecution in England only confirmed the faith and Perseci*. 
brightened the zeal of the Puritans, as persecution in the 
Netherlands had confirmed the faith and brightened the 
zeal of the Reformed. 

The accession of James increased the severities of the 1603. 
hierarchy ; and the Puritans, obstinate in their opposition 
to the rigorous law, began to look for an asylum in other 
lands. They had long heard that in Holland there was 
" fi-eedom of religion for all men ;" and thither some of 
them determined to fly. Early in 1608, a number of these 1608. 
self-exiled Non-conformists, under John Robinson, their t^"j\«^^„^ 
minister, and William Brewster, their ruling elder, left the 
fens of Lincolnshire, and arrived at Amsterdam. In Hol- 
land they found "many goodly and fortified cities, strongly 
walled, and guarded with troops of armed men. Also, they 
heard a strange and uncouth language, and beheld the 
different manners and customs of the people, with their 
strange fashions and attires; all so far difiering from that 
of their plain country villages, wherein they were bred and 
born, and had so long lived, as it seemed they were come 
into a new world." The next year, they removed to the 1609. 
" fair and beautiful city" of Leyden, and organized their 
congregation under the ministry of Robinson. Here they 
throve apace, and at length " came to raise a competent 
and comfortable living." The Dutch allowed them full 
toleration, and showed them good- will and hospitality on 
every hand ; and the emigrants repaid this kindness by the 
most decorous observance of the municipal law.* 

* Bradford, in Young's " Chronicles of the Pilgrims," 20-39. The treatment of the 
Puritans in Holland has been misrepresented by writers with English prejudices. Their 
condition was, unquestionably, necessitous— for they were fugitives ; and their lives were 
toilsome — for their Dutch hosts were themselves eminently industrious. But, by their 
own showing, the Puritans had "good and courteous entreaty" in Holland, and "lived 
there many years with freedom and good content."— Mass. Hist. Coll., iii., 52 ; ii., N. Y 
H. S. Coll. i., 361. 



Dutch 
Church 



116 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. IV. The Puritan refugees in Holland found that their doc- 
"T~~ trinal opinions agreed, essentially, with those held hy a 
Sympathy l^rge and controlling majority of the Dutch clergy and 
Reformed peoplc. Robinsou himself could not refrain from taking a 
part in the controversy which was then raging between 
the Gomarists and the Remonstrants. He published sev- 
eral polemical dissertations ; and even disputed in public, 
at Leyden, with such ability, zeal, and " good respect," 
that he soon " began to be terrible to the Arminians" as 
a champion of Calvinistic orthodoxy.* The mtolerance of 
the English hierarchy, and not the heterodoxy of the En- 
glish Articles of Religion, had induced the Puritans to de- 
sert their native land. Their opposition was not so much 
to the doctrines of the Anglican establishment, as to the 
ceremonials of her worship, and the aristocratic exclusive- 
ness of her domineering prelacy. In Holland they found 
an Established Church, whose canons of belief agreed, es- 
sentially, with those of the Church of England ; whose 
chief difference regarded the details of ecclesiastical gov- 
ernment.! As earnest and as venerable in her renuncia- 
tion of Rome, the Reformed Dutch Church, in her Litur- 
gy and her Articles of Religion, also rivaled her English 
contemporary in the orthodoxy of her faith and the stabil- 
ity of her forms. The most eminent pillars of the English 
establishment with Christian candor affirmed, that, in for- 
eign Reformed countries, those Churches which did not 
recognize a Prelacy " lost nothing of the true essence of 
a Church."! When English prelates and English church- 

* Bradford, in Young's Chronicles, 41. 

t " Whatever doubts may be raised as to the C.ilvinism of Cranmer and Ridley, there 
can surely be no room for any as to the chiefs of the Anglican Church under Elizabeth." 
"The works of Calvin and BuUinger became text-books in the English universities." 
Toward the end of the reign of James I., Calvinism gradually became unpopular at court. 
In the reign of Charles I., Laud's influence became so great that " to preach in favor of 
Calvinism, though commonly reputed to be the doctrine of the Church, incurred punish- 
ment in any rank. Davenant, bishop of Sali-sbury, one of the divines sent to Dort, and 
reckoned among the principal theologians of that age, was reprimanded, on his knees, be- 
fore the Privy Council for this ofltnse. But in James's reign, the University of Oxford 
was decidedly Calvinistic ; and I suppose it continued so in the next reign, so far as the 
university's opinions could be manifested." — Hallam, Const. Hist., cap. vii., and note. 

t Bishop Hall, X., 310 ; Bishop Davenant's " Adhortatio ad fraternam Communionem 
inter Evangelicas Ecclesias restaurandam," 1640. 



THE DUTCH AND THE ENGLISH CHURCHES. II7 

men went to Holland, they conformed, without scruple, to chap.iv. 

her established relisjion. At the command of James, 9'~~T~r~ 

1619 
bishop, a dean, an archdeacon, and a professor of Theolo- ^j^^ j^^. " 

gy in the Church of England, attended, as we have seen, '^™^'* 
a Synod at Dort, "of doctors not episcopally ordained, sat ^'^'^'^^'^ 
with those doctors, preached to them, and voted with them 
on the gravest questions of theology."* And so highly 
was that " honorable, grave, and reverend" Assembly es- 
teemed, that the Dean of Worcester, after his elevation to 
the bishopric of Norwich, constantly wore the golden med- 
al which the States G-eneral presented to the foreign dele- 
gates attending the Synod. Not only did the head of the 
English Church, and the most enlightened English theo- 
logians under James, thus distinctly recognize the validity 
of the ordination of the Reformed clergy abroad, but they 
readily admitted them to livings in the Church of En- 
gland, without re-ordination by a bishop.t 

In truth, the priesthood of the Netherlands was ordain- its form of 
cd by the imposition of as holy hands as was the priest- menl. 
hood of England, and it traced as unbroken a line of de- 
scent from the Apostles. But the Reformation in the 
Netherlands was essentially a spontaneous movement of 
the people. The political circumstances of the country 
encouraged the spread of the new doctrines. Yet there 
was not an entire unanimity. Among the laity, the no- 
bles remained, generally, attached to the Papal Church ; 
the advocates of the Reformed religion were, chiefly, the 
inferior gentry, the merchants, the artisans. In the body 
of the priesthood the same difference occurred. The rich- 
ly-beneficed prelates adhered to the Pontiff; the more 
popular clergy revolted. Not so in England. There the 
movement began at the throne ; and prelate and priest, with 
significant accord, obsequiously repudiated the supremacy 
of the Pope, and submissively acknowledged the suprema- 

* Macaulay, i., 76 ; Hallam, Const. Hist., vii., note. " I shall take leave of this vener- 
able body with this further remark, that King .Tames sending over divines to join this 
Assembly was an open acknowledgment of the validity of ordination by mere presbyters; 
here being a bishop of the Church of England sitting as a private member in a synod of 
divines, of which a mere presbyter was the president."— Neal's Puritans, i., 265. 

t Bishop Hall, i., 32 ; x., 341 ; Lingard, ix., 147. 



118 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. IV. |cy of the King. The religion of the sovereign was estab- 
iished as the religion of the kingdom ; but the hierarchy, 
* under royal protection, continued, none the less than of 
old, to grow aristocratic, courtly, supercilious, and des- 
potic. In the Dutch provinces, however, the plebeian 
priesthood, deserted by the patrician prelacy, was re- 
strained to the Galilean platform of apostolic equality.* 
Republican The Episcopacy of the Reformed Dutch Church, foUow- 
cy, ing the popular impulse, naturally resumed a republican 

form; and each minister of that Church claims to be, 
and, by its canons, he is, the "bishop" or "overseer" of 
his own congregation, in subordination, alone, to the 
classes and synods of his peers.t Before the Reforma- 
tion, the faithful of Amsterdam had daily gathered around 
the four-and-thirty splendid altars which decorated the 
old cathedral church of Saint Nicholas, There the faith- 
ful worship now ; but those altars have all disappeared. 
The bishop's throne no longer stands within the venerable 
chok. The only thrones which remain to the republican 
bishops of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church are 
thrones " not made with hands." But the monuments 
of the Admirals of Holland remain ; and the magnificent 
brazen gates ; and the wonderful windows of painted 
glass ; and the organ continues to roll its notes through the 
ancient aisles of Saint Nicholas at Amsterdam, as deep- 
toned as through the arches of Saint Peter at Westminster, 
The Democratic element, which the controlling influ- 
ence of national circumstances, in spite of the individual 
leanings of many of the clergy, had thus, from the first, 
infused into the government of the Reformed Church of 
the Netherlands, was its chief characteristic distinction 
from the Church of England,! But in almost every oth- 

♦ " As for the ministers of God's word, they have equally the same power and authori- 
ty wheresoever they are, as they are all ministers of Christ, the only universal Bishop, 
and the only head of the Church."— Article XXXI. of the Confession of Faith of the Syn- 
od of Dort. 

t " The pastors are in Scripture called Stewards of God and Bishops, that is, overseers 
and watchmen, for they have the oversight of the house of God." — Liturgy of the R. D. C. : 
Form of Ordination. 

X "There is witness enough of this in the late Synod of Dort. Wlion the Bishop of 
Llandaff had, in a speech of his, touched upon episcopal government, and showed that 



THE DUTCH AND ENGLISH CHURCHES SYMPATHETIC. 119 

er respect, there was a remarkable and sympathetic simi- chap. n 
larity. Both adhered to Liturgies ; both used the clerical ~~~ 
gown ; both preserved the Creeds of the Apostles, of Nice, syn,pat'b 
and of Saint Athanasius. Christmas, Easter, Ascension, ["hc^j^uh 
and Whitsunday were high holidays, alike in the Dutch gj-gh^" 
and the English Churches. Their Articles of Religion ^'J'""'"''' 
were nearly identical. Their almost only difference was 
prelacy ; for prelacy won no popular favor in tolerant but 
republican Holland. And to the present day, the same 
essential harmony in doctrine and in Liturgy continues to 
assimilate these two equally venerable Churches. Trans- 
planted to the New "World, the " Reformed Protestant 
Dutch Church" and the "Protestant Episcopal Church" 
have both preserved their time-honored forms of worship, 
and their almost coincident Articles of Religion. Social 
circumstances always bound them closely together ; and 
they now differ in scarcely any important point, save the 
original disagreement respecting prelatic superiority.* 

The refugee Puritans at Leyden, finding the Estab- cordiality 
lished Church of Holland orthodox in its faith, and the lans. 
government of the Netherlands tolerant in its policy, 
seemed to have secured, without effort, a happy home. 
It is not surprising that they should have entered into a 
cordial communion ; and that Robinson himself should 
have declared " before G-od and men, that we agree so 
entirely with the Reformed Dutch Churches in the matter 

the want thereof gave opportunities to those divisions which were then on foot in the 
Netherlands, Bogcrmannus, the president of that Assembly, stood up, and, in a good al- 
lowance of what had been spoken, said, ^ Domitie, nos non sumus adeu felices,' 'Alas, my 
Lord, we are not so happy.'" — Bishop Hall, x., 151. 

* The Reformed Dutch Church was the Mother Church of this state ; and a spirit of 
liberal courtesy early prevailed between its ministers and those of the Episcopal Church. 
The Reverend Mr. Vesey, the first Rector of Trinity church, in the city of New York, was 
inducted into office in December, 1697, in the Dutch church in Garden Street. On that 
occasion, two Dutch clergymen, the Reverend Mr. Selyn.s, the pastor of the church, and 
the Reverend Mr. Nucella, of Kingston, assisted in the services. Mr. Vesey afterward of- 
ficiated for some time in the Garden Street church, alternately with the Dutch clergymen, 
until the building of Trinity church was completed. When the Middle Dutch church 
was desecrated by the British, during the Revolutionary war, the vestry of Trinity church 
passed the following Resolution, in 1779 : " It being represented that the old Dutch church 
is now used as a hospital for his majesty's troops, this corporation, impressed with a 
gratefiil remembrance of the former kindness of the members of that ancient church, do 
offer them the use of Saint George's church to that congregation, for celebrating Divine 
Worship." The courteous offer was frankly accepted. 



120 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



Chap. IV. of religion, that we are ready to subscribe to all and ev- 
ery one of the Articles of Faith of those churches, as they 
■ are contained in the Harmony of Confessions of Faith."* 
The Puri- But thcrc werc elements in Puritanism which were not 
isfiedin favorahle to contentment. Its inflexible self-will sur- 
passed ordinary pertinacity ; its notions of religion and of 
government were, perhaps, beyond example dogmatical. 
Its own was the only standard of propriety. Rather than 
obey the law of their own land, the Puritans had endured 
its penalties. Beginning with opposition, they ended with 
authority. Persecution made them important in En- 
gland ; and persecution, in the end, elevated its subjects 
to the seats of theu* judges. In their asylum in Holland, 
the refugees enjoyed full toleration ; yet they were, com- 
paratively, unimportant and obscure. There they were 
treated with perhaps rather more consideration than were 
some other sects ; for their Calvinism accorded with that 
of the established Dutch Church. Still, even that Church, 
though they themselves had pronounced her faith to be 
thoroughly orthodox, came to be regarded by them as 
scarcely a pure Church ; for she used a Liturgy, and clung 
to the memory of holy days, the observance of which the 
Puritans denounced as idolatrous. Sunday, too, was less 
austerely observed in Holland than they thought it should 
have been. And, indeed, the Dutch delegates to the Syn- 
od of Dort had themselves lamented this evil. The Pu- 
ritans, therefore, attempted to bring the Hollanders " to 
reform the neglect of observation of the Lord's day as a 
Sabbath," and other things " amiss among them." But it 
could hardly have been expected that censorious, though 
well-meaning foreigners, themselves enjoying full tolera- 
tion, should have had much encouragement in their self- 
imposed undertaking to modify the cheerful national hab- 
its of the warm-hearted people by whom they had been 
courteously sheltered. Few proselytes were made. The 
self-exiled Puritans began to grow " restless" and uneasy 
in their unmolested home. Time was thinning their num- 

* Robinson's Apology, 6 ; Young, 40, 388, note ; Neal, i., 244. 



THE PURITANS PROPOSE TO EMIGRATE. 121 

bers, and few came from England to strengthen them. chap. iv. 

The language of the Dutch was not their mother tongue. 

1617 
Fugitives from their native kingdom, they still cherished -^"-^'* 

allegiance to the crown of Great Britain. Firm in their 
English nationality, they feared that a long sojourn in 
Holland would wear away their homogeneousness. Many 
of them had married Dutch wives, and, in a few genera- 
tions, their posterity would become Dutch. Their youth 
were already enlisting as soldiers and sailors in the Dutch 
service. Besides, they were moved by " a great hope and 
inward zeal" to advance the kingdom of Christ in the "re- 
mote parts of the world." They considered, said Winslow, 
"how hard the country was where we lived; how many 
spent their estate in it, and were forced to return for En- 
gland ; how grievous to live from under the protection of 
the State of England ; how like we were to lose our lan- 
guage and our name of English ; how little good we did, 
or were likely to do, to the Dutch in reforming the Sab- 
bath ; how unable there to give such education to our 
children as we ourselves had received."* 

Notwithstanding they were enjoying " much peace and ThePuri- 
liberty"t in Holland, these considerations had great weight solve to 
with the Puritans, and made them dissatisfied with their America. 
abode. The results of European discovery in America 
having now become generally known, they determined to 
seek another home in the New World. At first, they 
thought of going to Gruiana, the fabulous wealth of which 
had been eloquently described by Raleigh. But upon ma- 
turer consideration, their desire was "to live in a distinct 
body by themselves, under the general government of Vir- 
ginia," as near neighbors of "the English which were 
there planted," but entirely independent of the colony at 
Jamestown, which, vinder Argall's rapacious administra- 
tion, was fast falling into disrepute. They were led to 
hope that the king would grant them, there, " free liber- 
ty, and freedom of religion." John Carver and Robert 

♦ Bradford, In Young, 45-48; Winslow, 381 ; Morton's Memorial, 18-21 ; Neal's Puri- 
tans, 1., 269. -^ winslow, ut. sup. 



122 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



1617. 

Negotia- 
tions in 
London. 



1619. 

February. 



Patent from 
the Virgin- 
ia Com- 
pany. 



Cushman were accordingly sent to London " to solicit 
'this matter." They found the Virginia Company " very 
desu-ous to have them go thither," and w^illing to grant 
them an ample patent. But as to their suit with the 
king, " it proved a harder piece of work than they took it 
for." James, anxious enough to enlarge the dominions 
of England, consented to " connive at them, and not mo- 
lest them, provided they carried themselves peaceably." 
But he refused to tolerate liberty of religion " by his pub- 
lic authority under his seal ;" and Carver and Cushman 
returned to Leyden, to report that all efforts to overcome 
the scruples of the king had been vain. 

The report of their messengers damped for a time the 
ardor of the Puritans, and " caused some distraction." 
But further reflection led them to set a higher value on the 
king's informal promise of connivance. A royal charter 
of religious freedom need not be considered so essential, 
for " though they had a seal as broad as the house-floor, it 
would not serve the turn, for there would be means enough 
found to recall or reverse it." So Robert Cushman and 
William Brewster were sent on another mission to Lon- 
don, to make arrangements with the Virginia Company, 
and procure as good conditions as they could. But dis- 
sensions in the company hindered the agents' proceedings. 
At length, " a large patent" was granted them, under the 
company's seal, to settle themselves in the "northern parts 
of Virginia," southward of the fortieth parallel of latitude. 
By the advice of some friends, this patent was not taken 
in the name of any of their own company, but in that of 
Mr. John Wincob, "a religious gentleman, then belonging 
to the Countess of Lincoln, who intended to go with them." 
Wincob, however, never went. But the patent having 
been sent over to the Puritans at Leyden, " for them to 
view and consider," in connection with the propositions for 
their emigration made by Thomas Weston and others of 
London, they were "requested to fit and prepare them- 
selves with all speed."* 

* Bradford, in Young, 52-76 ; Winslow, 382, 383 ; Prince, 155. 



THE PURITANS PROPOSE TO GO TO NEW NETHERLAND. 123 

Meanwhile, the Puritans, discouraged at the various dif- chap. iv. 
ficultios which had embarrassed their negotiations in En- 
gland, had been entertaining serious thoughts of emigra- condition 
ting to America under the auspices of the United Provinces, tan^n'""' 
Their Holland hosts had treated them, from the first, with """"""^ 
constant kindness. "Although it was low with many of 
them, yet their word would be taken among the Dutch 
when they wanted money, because they had found by ex- 
perience how careful they were to keep their word, and 
saw them so painful and diligent in their callings, that 
they strove to get their custom and to employ them above 
others in their work, for their honesty and diligence." Nor 
did the state become "weary of them," or think of driving 
them out. It was " their own free choice and motion" 
which led them to seek a new home ; and when the magis- 
trates of Leyden heard of their purpose, they bore spontane- 
ous testimony to the good conduct of their guests. " These 
English," said they, " have lived among us now this twelve 
years, and yet we never had any suit or accusation come 
against any of them."* 

It is not surprising that the Puritans, thus treated with Their pur- 
good- will, toleration, and hospitality in the Fatherland, to New 

Nether- 

should have purposed to emigrate to New Netherland, if land, 
they could obtain sufficient encouragement from the Dutch 
government. Barneveldt was now dead, and one great 
obstacle in the way of the formation of a general Dutch 
West India Company was removed. But various ques- 
tions of detail embarrassed the States Greneral, and pro- 
tracted the settlement of the question. The Amsterdam 
Trading Company, whose special charter had expired two 
years before, in the mean time continued to send their 
ships thither, and other merchants had begun to participate 
in the trade. Colonization, however, had been postponed, 
until the proposed powerful monopoly should be able to 

* Bradford, 38, 39; Morton's Memorial, 21. Mr. George Sumner, in Mass. Hist. Coll., 
xxix., 42-62, labors to prove— what was clearly the case— that the condition of the Puri- 
tans at Leyden " was one of poverty and obscurity." But his attempt to exhibit the Dutch 
as wanting in hospitality and good-will, is not sustained by evidence, and is contradict- 
ory to the testimony of the Puritans themselves. See ante, p. 115, note. 



124 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. IV. Undertake it with success. In this conjuncture, Robinson 

~7~ besfan to sound the Amsterdam merchants respecting the 
1620 • • ■ r & 

The Puri- immediate formation of a colony on the North River. Be- 

poseto'^m-i^S "well verscd in the Dutch language," he represented 
New^Neth- ^° thcm that he was himself favorably inclined to go and 
eriand. settle in Ncw Netherland, and that over four hundred fam- 
ilies would go with him, not only from Leyden, but also 
from England, provided they could be assured that the 
government of the United Provinces would protect and de- 
fend them there from the assaults of other powers. They 
desired to go to New Netherland, said Robinson, "to plant 
there the true and pure Christian religion, to convert the 
savages of those countries to the true knowledge and un- 
derstanding of the Christian faith, and, through the grace 
of the Lord, and to the glory of the Netherlands govern- 
ment, to colonize and establish a new empire there, under 
the order and command" of the Prince of Orange, and the 
High Mighty Lords States Greneral.* 

The Amsterdam Company gladly listened to these over- 
tures. They saw at once that so many families going in 
Jterdam ^ body to Ncw Ncthcrlaud could hardly fail to form a 
make^'offers successful colouy ; and, accordingly, they made "large 
tans.'' ^'*" offers" to the Puritans, promising to transport them free 
of cost to the North River, and to furnish every family 
with cattle.t The political part of the question, however, 
the Dutch merchants could not decide. They were ready 
to expend their capital in conveying the emigrants to New 
Netherland, and in supplying them with necessaries ; but 
they had no authority to promise that the Dutch govern- 
ment would afford to the colonists that special protection, 
after their arrival there, which Robinson required for his 
followers as an indispensable condition. They, therefore, 
determined to apply directly to the general government 
at the Hague. 

The Prince of Orange was now at the zenith of his 

* Holland Documents, 1., 95; N. Y. Senate Documents, 1845, No. Ill, pages 15, 16; 
Address before N. Y. U. S., 1844, Appendix, p. 54 ; O'Call., i., 84. 
t Bradford, in Young, 42 ; Winslow, 385. 



MEMORIAL TO THE DUTCH GOVERNMENT. 125 

power. To him, as stadtholder, the Amsterdam mer- chap. iv 

chants accordinorly presented a memorial, setting forth 

1620 
their first discovery of, and continuous trade to, New ,2 ^^^ ' 

Netherland, " situated between New France and Virginia, ^•'/Jie*^'*''"'^ 
in the latitude of from forty to forty-five degrees," and de- ^rnmem"'^ 
tailing the overtures which the " English preacher at Ley- 
den" had made to them to colonize that country with his 
Puritan followers, " provided that, by the authority and 
under the protection of your Princely Excellency and the 
High Mighty Lords States Greneral, they may be defend- 
ed and preserved there from the attacks of other powers." 
The memorialists expressed their apprehension that the 
King of G-reat Britain would colonize New Netherland 
with English subjects, and " with violence render fruit- 
less the discoveries and possession" of the Dutch in that 
country, and probably surprise their ships then trading 
there. They, therefore, prayed that " the aforementioned 
preacher and four hundred families may be taken under 
the protection of the United Provinces, and that two ships 
of war may be sent to secure, provisionally, the said lands 
to this government, since such lands may be of great im- 
portance whenever the West India Company shall be or- 
ganized."* 

The stadtholder expressed no opinion upon this memo- views or 

the States 

rial ; he merely referred it to the States G-eneral. But General, 
the Twelve Years' truce with Spain had now nearly ex- 
pired ; and the statesmen of the Netherlands were med- 
itating too large and ambitious designs to allow them to 
listen with favor to the petition of the Amsterdam Com- 
pany. They had now in view the establishment of a 
grand commercial monopoly, whose concentrated capital 
and energy should not only direct the colonization of the 
Dutch discoveries in America, but should also assist the 
states in crushing the power of their hereditary enemy. 
To that company, when it should be organized, would 
properly belong the consideration of all the details con- 

* Holland Documents, 1., 95-99. The early New England chroniclers do not mention 
this application to the Dutch government, and its fate, though they speak of the " large 
offers" which were made to the Puritans in Holland. 



126 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. IV. nected with emigration. Besides, the memorial which 
"~~~~ placed Robinson's views before the States Greneral, 
Views of brought officially to their knowledge — ^what, indeed, by 
GeneraL^ this time, had perhaps become notorious — that James was 
disposed to colonize the northern regions of America with 
English subjects ; it also positively alleged, that he in- 
tended to dispossess the Dutch of their foothold in New 
Netherland. If such were really the king's intention, it 
would be folly for the States G^eneral to assist his design 
by aiding in the transportation thither of emigrants, whose 
liege services might soon be demanded by royal proclama- 
tion. The limits of New Netherland, as at first defined 
by the States General, extended from the fortieth to the 
forty-fifth parallel of latitude, from Virginia to Canada. 
There were unoccupied lands enough in Virginia, south 
of the fortieth degree, where the Puritans might settle 
themselves in peace and good neighborhood, between 
Jamestown and Manhattan, and thus preserve without 
inconvenience their national identity. But for them to 
occupy, under the express authority and with the formal 
protection of the Dutch government, any portion of New 
Netherland, might give rise to embarrassing international 
questions. And when that region should be colonized, it 
would be better that Dutch subjects, of undoubted loyal- 
ty, should themselves first plant there the laws and the 
venerated customs of the Fatherland. 
The appii- Such wcrc probably some of the arguments which 
thePuri- weighed with the States General in their consideration 
fused. of the memorial of the 12th of February, 1620. The sub- 

10 March, ject was scvcral times before them during the two follow- 

ing months ; and, finally, after repeated deliberations and 
consultations with the Board of Admiralty and the stadt- 

11 April, holder, they resolved peremptorily to reject the prayer of 

the memorialists.* 

Thus the hopes of the Puritans were again disappointed. 
New nego- Refuscd thc soUcitcd assistance of their government, the 

tiations in iiiiii rr 

England. Amsterdam merchants, who had made the "large offers," 

* Hoi. Doc, i., 94, 100-103. 



THE PURITANS EMIGRATE FROM LEYDEN. 127 

were not in a position to carry out by themselves the chap.iv. 

conditions demanded by Robinson, the zeal of whose fol- 

lowers to leave their home at Leyden was by this time ■'-"'^^• 
quickened by a growing feeling of apprehension. Through- 
out Holland there was now " nothing but beating of drums 
and preparing for war." Fearful that " the Spaniard might 
prove as cruel as the savages of America,"* the Puritans 
once more turned their thoughts to England, About 
this time, they were informed, " by Mr. Weston and oth- 
ers," that James had determined to grant a large patent 
"for the more northerly parts of America, distinct from 
the Virginia patent, and wholly excluded from their gov- 
ernment, and to be called by another name, to wit, New 
England."! The proposed patent, however, was still in 
its preliminary stages ; but Weston and his associates in 
London urged the Puritans to go to New England, in hope 
of " present profit to be made by fishing on that coast." 
Embarrassments still hindered. Some of the London cap- 
italists were vexed that they " went not to G-uiana ;" oth- 
ers would do nothing "unless they went to Virginia;" 
while many, " who were most relied on, refused to ad- 
venture if they went thither." In the midst of these dif- 
ficulties, " they of Leyden were driven to great straits ;" 
and the New England patent "not being fully settled," 
they determined " to adventure with that patent they had" 
from the Virginia Company.^ 

But the means provided by their London friends were The Puri- 
not sufficient to convey them all at once. The congrega- l "/dcn^''*' 
tion was, therefore, divided into two parts. The greater 
number and the least robust were to remain at Leyden 
with Robinson ; the younger and abler-bodied were to 
emigrate, as pioneers, under Brewster. After a solemn 
fast and a stirring discourse from Robinson, the selected 
emigrants were accompanied to Delft-Haven, two miles 21 .ruiy. 

* Bradford, in Young, 51. 

t Hubbard, in Young, 80. The royal warrant to the solicitor general is dated 23d July, 
1620 ; the patent itself did not pass the great seal until 3d November, 1620.— Lond. Doc., 
i., 8 ; N. Y. Col. MSS., iii., 4 ; Mass. Hist. Coll., xxvi., 64 ; Hazard, i., 99, 103. 

t Hubbard, in Young, 81. 



128 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. IV. below Rotterdam, by "the brethren that staid at Ley- 
den." Embarking in the " Speedwell," a small vessel of 
■ sixty tons, they passed over to Southampton. There they 
found, " lying ready with all the rest of their company," 
a larger ship, the " Mayflower," of one hundred and eighty 
tons, which had come round directly from London. The 

5 August, two vessels, filled with passengers, soon set sail in com- 
The Pii- pany. But the leaky Speedwell belied her name ; and 
from South- the cxpcdition put back into Plymouth. Dismissing here 
ampton. ^^^ battered consort, which returned to London with Cush- 

6 Sept. man and a part of the company, the Mayflower recom- 
From menced her lonely voyage across the Atlantic, crowded 

with one hundred emigrants, who, in tears and sadness, 
had left "that goodly and pleasant city which had been 
their resting-place near twelve years. But they knew 
they were Pilgrims, and looked not much on those things, 
but lifted up their eyes to heaven, their dearest country, 
and quieted their spirits."*^ 
Patent from The patent with which the Pilgrims sailed for America 
Company'* was, as wc have seen, the one which they had obtained 
which they from the Virginia Company. It authorized them to settle 
themselves in the northerly parts of Virginia, which ex- 
tended to the fortieth degree of latitude. North of that 
parallel, their grant would have availed them nothing. 
This they knew when they set sail ; and they were also 
aware that the projected New England patent was yet un- 
der the advisement of the law officers of the British crown. 
With the proposed grantees of that patent they had not 
negotiated. After the government of the United Provinces 
had refused the prayer of the memorial, which had been 
presented in their behalf, they did not seem to have felt 
sufficiently encouraged to settle themselves, under Dutch 
authority, in New Netherland. Having by that memorial 
recognized and admitted the Dutch title to the territory, 
"situated between New France and Virginia," they would 
very justly have been considered as intruders, if they had 

* Bradford, in Young, 77, 86-99 i Wiaslow, 384, 396 ; Morton's Memorial, 21-32 ; Neal's 
Puritans, i., 269. 



THE MAYFLOWER AT CAPE COD. ]29 

deliberately undertaken to establish an independent forcii^ chap. iv 
colony there, without the patronage of the States General, 
which they had solicited. But the geography of the Amer- 
ican coast, between Cape Cod and the Chesapeake, was, 
at that time, accurately known only by the Dutch, and by 
Dermer, whose accounts had not yet been made public. 
The intention of the Pilgrims, accordingly, seems to have Their des- 
been to sail, by the northern passage, directly to Manhat- 
tan, where they could gain the exact information which 
they needed respecting the precise position of their future 
home. And so they left Europe, " on a voyage," as they 
themselves described it in their famous compact on board 
the Mayflower, " to plant the first colony in the northern 
parts of Virginia," beyond the limits of New England, on 
the shores of Delaware or Maryland, and outside the then 
claimed southern frontier of New Netherland.* 

Historians have reiterated a tale that the Mayflower 
was taken to Cape Cod through the treachery of Jones, her 
master. The story was first broached by Nathaniel Mor- Morton's 
ton, secretary of the New Plymouth colony, who, in his slander" 
" Memorial," alleging " late and certain intelligence," 
charges " some of the Dutch" with having "fraudulently 
hired the said Jones * * * to disappoint" the Pilgrims in 
their intention to go " to Hudson's River." Morton was 
not a passenger by the Mayflower in 1620. He came to 
New Plymouth in ^^623, when he was a boy only eleven ' 
years old. He did not publish his " Memorial" until 1669, 
nearly half a century after the alleged "plot," when, most 
of the passengers in the Mayflower were dead, and when 
the coveted territory of New Netherland had been for five 
years subjected to British rule. If the secretary's "Intel-, 
ligence" had been early, instead of "late," it might, per- 
haps, have been called " certain." The Mayflower does; 
not appear ever to have been in Holland ; nor do Jonesi, 
her master, nor Coppin, her mate and pilot, seem to hay<<) 
had any communication with the Dutch. But Coppin h?/ 1 
certainly been on the coast of New England at leaist <mf je 

♦ Bradford, in Young, 121 ; Morton's Memorial, 37 ; Bancroft, i., 309.. 
I 



130 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. IV. before ;* and in navigating the Mayflower by the northern 
passage, toward Cape Cod, he only followed his former track, 
and adhered to the usual English practice since Grosnold's 
time. Neither Bradford nor Winslow, in their contem- 
porary histories, question the fidelity of the master or the 
pilot of the ship, both of whom seem to have been English- 
men, in the interest of their London employers ; and the si- 
lence of Bradford and Winslow ought to be conclusive on a 
point which, if true, must unquestionably have had a con- 
spicuous place in every faithful account of the " old colony." 
No allusion is made to the story in the early correspondence 
between New Netherland and New Plymouth in 1627. 
Dudley, in his letter to Lady Lincoln in 1631, is silent. 
If the tale had been true, the Dutch would assuredly have 
been taunted with it in 1633, and afterward, when the New 
Plymouth colonists quarreled with them about the title to 

The story the vallcy of the Connecticut. In short, Morton's Parthian 

iiy." " calumny" seems to be a sheer falsehood, too eagerly re- 

peated by more recent writers. After a boisterous voyage 
of more than two months, and "long beating at sea," says 

9 Nov. Bradford, "they fell in with the land called Cape Cod; 
the which being made, and certainly known to be it, they 
were not a little joyful." A consultation was held, and 
the ship was tacked to the southward, "to find some place 
about Hudson's River, according to their first intentions." 

10 Nov. But they soon fell among the "perilous shoals and break- 
ers" of Cape Malebarre, which embarrass the navigator 
to this day ; and they bore up again for Cape Cod. Neither 
Dutch intrigue nor a bribed pilot had brought the May- 
flower there — it was the Providence of God.t 

Finding that they were now far beyond " the northern 

* Bradford and Winslow's Journal, in Young, 148, 159. "Robert Coppin, our pilot, 
made relation of a great navigable river and good harbor on the other headland of the bay, 
almost right over against Cape Cod, being in a right line not much atwve eight leagues 
distant, in which ho had been once." Young suppo.scs the " other headland" to be Ma- 
nomet Point, and the " great navigable river" to be the North lliver, in Scituate. 

t Morton's Memorial, 34 ; Bradford, in Young, 100-103, 117 ; De Laet, iii., cap. iv., p. 
80 ; Dudley, in Young's Mass., 308 ; Holmes's Annals, i., 161 ; Moulton, 352-357. Gra 
hame, in his History of the United States {Am. ed.), i., 194 ; ii., 161, 162, records and em- 
beUishes the story. See, however. Dr. Young's admirable remarks at the " Old Colony*" 
festival at Boston, December, 1844, in N. Y. H. S. Proc, 1844, App., p. 106. 



1620. 



THE COMPACT OF THE PILGRIMS AT CAPE COD. 131 

parts of Virginia," and that, consequently, their patent 
from the Virginia Company, under which they had left' 
Holland, expecting '• to become a body politic," was " made 
void and useless,"* the emigrants, the day before they 
came to harbor, "observing some not well affected to unity 
and concord," and " some appearance of faction" among 
their company, signed an agreement, combining them- compact at 
selves together into " a civil body politic," for their " bet- 
ter ordering and preservation." This instrument, which ii Nov 
the pressure of disaffecting circumstances made suddenly 
expedient, has, by degrees, become magnified into "the 
birth of popular constitutional liberty," and the exclusive 
claim is now distinctly set up that " in the cabin of the 
Mayflower humanity recovered its rights."! 

No class of persons in the world has, perhaps, on the 
one hand, been loaded with more extravagant eulogy, and, 
on the other, been covered with more undeserved ridicule 
than the English Puritans, and their descendants in Amer- 
ica. An incessant repetition of stereotyped panegyric may, 
indeed, be excused on those periodical occasions when a 
large posterity is accustomed to commemorate, with filial 
pride, the many worthy attributes of a devout, active, 
acute, independent, and resolute ancestry. The honest 
reputation of that renowned ancestry no candid mind can 
depreciate ; and the real services which the Piu*itans ren- 
dered to the cause of civil liberty it is grateful to ap- 
plaud. But there is danger lest zeal should outrun knowl- 

* It may cause misapprehension to say that the passengers in the Mayflower left Europe 
" without any useful charter from a corporate body." The only reason why their " large 
patent" from the Virginia Company, witli which they adventured, " was never made use 
of," as stated by Bradford, was, because they settled themselves — cotUrary to their inten- 
lion when they sailed — out of the bounds of Virginia. Several years afterward, they ob- 
tained a charter from the New England Council, within the limits of whose patent they 
li.id accidentally established their plantation. 

t Bradford and Winslow, in Young, 95, 120, 121 ; Morton's Memorial, 28, 37 ; Bancroft, 
i., 308-310. Young, in a note to his " Chronicles of the Pilgrims," p. 120, says, "Here, 
for the first time in the world's history, the philosophical fiction of a social compact was 
realized in practice. And yet it seems to me that a great deal more has been discerned in 
this document than the signers contemplated. It is evident that when they left Holland, 
they expected 'to become a body politic, using among themselves civil government, and 
to choose their own rulers from among themselves.' Their purpose in drawing up and 
signing this compact, was simply, as they state, to restrain certain of their number who 
had manifested an unruly and factious disposition. This was the whole philosophy of the 
instrument, whatever may since have been discovered and deduced from it." 



132 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. IV. edge, and lest ideal pictures, drawn by self-adulatory rhet- 
oric, should gradually come to be received as faithfal por- 
■ traits of reality. And while naught should be set down 
in malice, no temptation to flatter self-conceit, nor anxiety 
to demonstrate hypotheses ; no reluctance to oppose the 
most eloquent ability, nor fear of provoking cherished prej- 
udice which unwelcome candor may offend, should ever 
warp those, who assume the responsible task of recording 
the annals of their race, from the duty of clearly exposing 
historical truth. 
Example of Howcvcr ample may have been the true scope of their 
republic, compact ou board of the Mayflower at Cape Cod, it can 
not be denied, and it ought not to be concealed, that the 
Pilgrims, bef()re they left their asylum in Holland, had 
seen, in her tolerant government, an early and illustrious 
assertion of the rights and the power of the people, and a 
noble protest against oppression and tyranny. While the 
fugitive Puritans, unmolested at Leyden, observed the 
popular principle of majorities triumphant, even in severe 
ecclesiastical decisions, they found that sublimest element 
of all in civil liberty — freedom of conscience — more fnlly 
realized in the United Netherlands than in any other . 
country in the world. The same immunities which the 
Dutch had won from Spain were freely granted to the 
non-conforming refugees from England. In the Batavian 
Republic, too, they saw the happy working of that Federal 
system which afterward bound together the American col- 
onies. And, in the Constitution of self-governing Holland, 
those refugees had before them the practical example of a 
representative administration, imperfect, indeed, but nev- 
ertheless a marvel of the age ; founded on large principles 
of popular liberty ; maintaining those principles with splen- 
did success ; and deserving the lasting gratitude of man- 
kind for its earnest, consistent, and magnanimous vindi- 
cation of the rights of humanity. All this was observed 
in the United Provinces, at a period when James I. was 
king of Great Britain, Louis XHI. king of France, and 
Philip HI. king of Spain. Such lessons could not possi- 



THE LANDING OF THE PILGRIMS. 133 

bly have been lost upon the Pilgrims ; to their value they chap. iv. 

had themselves borne testimony, in solieitins: encourage- 

1620 
ment to emigrate to New Netherland " under the order 

and command" of the Prince of Orange and the States 
General ; and when they are found affirming, in New En- 
gland, some of substantially the same principles as those 
which they had seen operative in the Dutch republic, and 
which at that time were developed no where else, it can 
not be just to monopolize for them the glory of having 
originated " popular constitutional liberty."* 

Several weeks were spent by the emigrants in examin- 
ing the concave shores behind Cape Cod. At last, a more Landing at 
advantageous harbor than any they had seen was found outh. 
on the west side of the bay ; and an exploring party land- -^ 
ed at New Plymouth, on the spot which Block and Smith 
had visited several years before, and marked on their maps, 
and which Dermer, just five months previously, though 
without their knowledge, had indicated as a fitting place 
for " the first plantation."! In a few days the Mayflower ^| Dec. 
was brought up from the Cape, and the 

" band of exiles moored their bark 

On the wild New England shore." 

Thus the Puritan pilgrims left their home at Leyden, 
and sought the New World under the banner of Saint 
George ; and thus they came to plant on the bleak bor- 
ders of eastern New England the institutions which it had 
once been their purpose to cultivate, under the protecting 
flag of Holland, in the genial regions of New Netherland. 

* This subject will be further considered in subsequent chapters, 
t Morton's Memorial, 56, 57. 



134 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



CHAPTER V. 

1621-1625. 

Chap. V. The project for a general Dutch West India Company, 

which Usselincx had so early and zealously, yet unsuc- 

Dutch cessfully, urged upon the attention ,of the statesmen of 

West India Holland, at length obtained its accomplishment. It was 

Company ' ~ i 

ted*"^'""^'' the age of great monopolies and grasping charters. The 
East India Company had, since 1602, pursued a prosper- 
ous career ; and its success had provoked emulation. The 
Twelve Years' truce with Spain had expired in the spring 
of 1621 ; and the United Provinces were warned to pre- 
pare for a renewed struggle with their mighty enemy. 
The obstacles which had hindered the consummation of 
Usselincx's views were not only now cleared away, but 
opposition was succeeded by encouragement ; and the 
long-pending charter was hurried to completion, within 
three months after the termination of the Spanish truce. 

3 June. On the third of June, 1621, the States General passed 

a formal patent under their great seal, declaring that the 
welfare and happiness of the United Netherlands depend- 
ed mainly upon their foreign trade and navigation, and that 
those great interests could be properly encouraged in dis- 
tant regions only by the combined and united action of a 
general incorporated company. For these and other rea- 
sons, they accordingly ordained that, for the term of twen- 
ty-four years from the first of July, 1621, none of the in- 
habitants of the United Provinces should be permitted to 
sail thence to the coasts of AlVica, between the tropic of 
Cancer and the Cape of Good Hope, nor to the coasts of 

Extent of America or the West Indies, between Newfoundland and 

territory. ' 



Km. 



THE DUTCH WEST INDIA COMPANY. 135 

the Straits of Magellan, except in the name or by the con- c^l^^. v 
sent of the West India Company, upon pain of forfeiture 
of ships and cargoes. At the same time, it was provided 
that such parties as had, before the granting of the char- 
ter, been engaged in commerce with those countries, 
" might continue their trade for the sale of their goods," 
and make their homeward voyages. 

The West India Company was invested with enormous Political 

fioi /^ I'-i powers ol 

powers. In the name of the States Greneral, it might make nic (;ompa- 
contracts and alliances with the princes and natives of the 
countries comprehended within the limits of its charter ; 
build forts ; appoint and discharge governors, soldiers, and 
public officers ; administer justice ; and promote trade. 
It was bound to " advance the peopling of those fruitful 
and unsettled parts, and do all that the service of those 
c untries, and the profit and increase of trade shall re- 
quire." It was obliged to communicate to the States G-en- 
eral, from time to time, all the treaties and alliances it 
might make, and also detailed statements of its forts and 
settlements. All governors in chief, and the instructions 
proposed to be given to them, were to be first approved of 
by the States Greneral, who would then issue formal com- 
missions ; and all superior officers were held to take oaths 
of allegiance to their High Mightinesses, and also to the 
company. 

The government of the company was vested in five sep- chambers. 
arate chambers of managers ; one at Amsterdam, manag- 
ing four ninth parts ; one at Middleburg, in Zealand, two 
ninth parts ; one at Dordrecht, on the Maeze, one ninth 
part ; one in North Holland, one ninth part ; and one in 
Friesland and Groningen, one ninth part. General exec- 
utive powers for all purposes — except that, in case of a dec- 
laration of war, the approbation of the States G-eneral was 
to be asked — were intrusted to a board of Nineteen dele- coiiege or 
gates. Of these, eight were to come from the Chamber at 
Amsterdam, four from Zealand, two from the Maeze, two 
from North Holland, and two from Friesland and Gron- 
ingen ; while one delegate was to represent the States Gen- 



136 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



1621 

nterest 
he Stall 
General 



Interest of 
the States 



CHAP. V. eral, for the purpose of "helping to direct the affairs of the 
company to the best advantage in the aforesaid meeting." 
The States G-eneral likewise promised to " defend this com- 
pany against every person, in free navigation and traffic, 
and assist them with a million of guilders ;" and also, in 
case of war, to " give them for their assistance" sixteen 
ships of war of three hundred tons burden, and four yachts 
of eighty tons, all fully equipped. These vessels, however, 
were to be manned and supported by the company, which 
was also obliged to provide and maintain an equal num- 
ber. The whole fleet was to be under the command of an 
admiral appointed by the States Greneral. All the inhab- 
itants of the Netherlands, " and also of other countries," 
might become stockholders of the company during the 
year 1621 ; after which time no new members were to be 
admitted.* 

Thus the Dutch government, leaving to the East India 
Company the consolidation of a magnificent empire in Asia, 
gave to a new mercantile corporation almost boundless 
powers to subdue, colonize, and govern the unoccupied re- 
xNew Neth- gious of Africa and America. New Netherland, though 
eluded Hot spccifically named in the charter, was clearly compre- 
charter. heudcd witliiu its purview ; and though the Dutch gov- 
ernment did not formally guarantee any absolute title to 
the territory, it nevertheless expressly bound the compa- 
ny to promote the colonization of those " fruitful and un- 
settled parts." The charters of Henry for the colonization 
of Canada, and the patents of James for the settlement of 
Virginia and New England, were no more favorable to co- 
lonial freedom than was the grant of the States Greneral to 
Powersandthe Wcst India Company. While that corporation mi£:ht 

duties of . 1 ,. n- . 1 . . 

thecompa- couqucr provmces, and lorm alliances with native princes 
at its own risk, it was bound to submit the instructions of 
its governors to the approval of the states ; and the para- 
mount authority and appellate jurisdiction of the central 
government at home was affirmed and maintained by the 

* See charter at longih in the Groot Placaatbook, i., 566 ; De Laet's Jaerlyck Verhael ; 
Hazard, i., 121 ; O'Call., i., 309. 



PRIVATE SHIPS SENT TO NEW NETHERLAND. 137 

oath of allegiance to the States General, wliicli was re- ( hai \ 
quh'ed from all superior officers of the company. 

The leading objects of the incorporation of this armed j^^^^ji^g^'^. 
commercial monopoly were, nevertheless, "the profit and f^'^j'^j"^/'"" 
increase of trade," and the humbling of the power of 
Spain and Portugal in Africa and America. How suc- 
cessfully these purposes were accomplished, the annals of 
the Netherlands proudly tell. Yet triumph eventually 
led to disaster ; and the intoxication of brilliant success 
was followed, before long, by the mortification of over- 
whelming bankruptcy. And it was an evil day for New 
Netherland, when the States General committed to the 
guardianship of a close and grasping mercantile corpora- 
tion, the ultimate fortunes of their embryo province in 
America. 

Various impediments, however, delayed for two years organiza- 
the final organization of the West India Company. The d. w. i. 
original charter was twice amplified in some points of de- "'"''^"•^ 
tail ; and the managers having adopted articles of internal 
regulation, which were formally approved by the States 
General on the twenty-first of June, 1623, closed their 1623. 
books of subscription, and prepared with energy to prose- ^' "'"'"^ 
cute their designs.* 

In the mean time, the merchants, who had lately formed Private 
the United New Netherland Association, continued to send toNew " 
separate trading ventures to the North and South Rivers, uimi. 
Hendrick Eelkens, Adriaen Jansen Engel, and Hans Joris 
Houten of Amsterdam, who, the year before, had so stren- 
uously opposed the grant of any exclusive privileges to 
May's ship-owners, obtained from the States General a 
special license to send their vessel, the "White Dove," to 1621. 
"New Virginia," under the command of Captain Joris '^ ^^''' 
Houten. The next week, Dirck Volckertsen, Doctor Vc- 
rus, Doctor Carbasius, and others, of Hoorn, in North Hol- 
land, some of whom were the owners of May's first ship, 
the Fortune, obtained a similar permission to send a ves- 24 sept. 
sel to trade " in the Virginias." A few days afterward, 

* De Laet, Jaerlyck Verhael ; Hazard, i., 149, 174, 181 : O'Call., i.,408, 411. 



138 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



1621. 



upon the petition of " Claes Jacobsen Haringcarspel, coun- 
selor and former schepen of Amsterdam, Peter Plancius,* 
minister of the word of G-od, Lambrecht van Tweenhuy- 
sen, Hans Claessen and Company, trading to certain lands, 
coasts, and rivers discovered by them, lying between Vir- 
ginia and New France, in the latitude of from forty to 
forty-five degrees, named New Netherland, and also to 
the adjacent lands and a great river, lying in the latitude 
of from thhty-eight to forty degrees," the States General 
28 Sep.. authorized them to dispatch two ships, to trade on the 
North and South Rivers. t These special licenses were 
granted under the proviso in the charter of the West In- 
dia Company. But in order to prevent any interference 
with its privileges, the grantees of these special licenses 
were reqiiired to complete their voyages, and have all 
their vessels back in Holland, by the first day of July, 1622. 
ijriiishpat- Mcanwhilc, the King of England, notwithstanding the 
England, actual posscssiou of Canada by the French, and New Neth- 
erland by the Dutch, had, as we have seen, asserted a 
claim of sovereignty over the regions lying between Vir- 
1620. ginia and Newfoundland. The New England patent, by 
which James granted to the council at Plymouth an ab- 
solute property in all the American territory extending 
from the fortieth to the forty-eighth degree of latitude, and 
from the Atlantic to the Pacific, passed the great seal about 
a week before the Mayflower, with the first Puritan emi- 
grants, arrived at Cape Cod. The monopoly conferred by 
the charter was immense. " Without the leave of the 
Council of Plymouth, not a ship might sail into a harbor 

* Plancius was an eminent Calvinistic clergyman of Amsterdam, and a member of the 
famous Synod of Dort, where he was chosen one of the revisers of the new translation of 
the Bible. (Brandt, xxxiii., 53.) He was no less distinguished as a geographer ; and, as 
has been stated (ante, p. 23, 45), was an earnest promoter of Dutch maritime enterprise. 
Plancius constructed the charts by which the first Holland ships sailed to the Ea.st Indies ; 
he also counseled the expeditions to discover a new passage to China by way of Nova 
Zembla. In 1608 and 1009, Jcannin, the French ambassador at the Hague, wishing to in- 
duce his king to embark in the East India trade, frequently consulted Plancius, " from 
whom he procured the most light." (Wagenaar, Hist. Amst., iii., 219.) Witsen, one of 
the original grantees of the New Netherland charter of 1014, whose coat of arms is paint- 
ed in a window in the old church of Saint Nicholas at Amsterdam, was no doubt an 
intimate friend of his liberal-minded pa.stor, whom we now find associated with Van 
Tweenhuysen and others, in sending an expedition to the North and South Rivers. 
Plancius died on the 25th of May, 1022. t Hoi. Doc, i., 109-113. 



3 Nov. 



THE NEW EXCILAND PATEVP A "GRIEVANCE." I39 

from Newfoundland to the latitude of Philadelphia ; not a chap, v 
skin might be purchased in the interior ; not a fish might 
be caught on the coast ; not an emigrant might tread the ^"'^^• 
soil." The only qualification which, even nominally, lim- 
ited the enormous grant, was the proviso which excepted 
any territories " actually possessed or inhabited by any 
other Christian prince or state." But the grant was so 
sweeping and exclusive, that its very extent impaired its 
value, by awakening the jealousy of Parliament. The 
next spring, after the patent was sealed, the House of Com- 25 April. 
mons turned its attention to the "grievance ;" and Sir Ed- 
ward Coke, from the chair of the House, informed Gorges 
of the complaints " in respect of many particulars therein 
contained, contrary to the laws and privileges of the sub- 
jects, as also that it was a monopoly, and the color of 
planting a colony put upon it for particular ends and pri- 
vate gain." Before its dissoll^tion, the House presented 
the patent as " the first" of " the public grievances of the 
kingdom ;" and the French ambassador protested against 
it, as unwarrantably including Canada within its assigned 
limits.* 

The king, however, determined to maintain the monop- 28 sept. 

oly which he had granted ; and, at the solicitation of the traders to 
*' . . N. E. re- 

Plymouth Company, the Privy Council directed the mayors strained. 

of Bristol, and other sea-port towns in the south and west 
of the kingdom, to prohibit all persons from attempting to 
trade to New England " contrary to his majesty's said 
grant."! Domestic interference being thus prevented, the 
watchful jealousy of the grantees of the charter was awak- 
ened to the movements of the Dutch in New Netherland. 
The intelligence communicated by Dermer of what he had 
observed while at Manhattan, was now confirmed by the 
news which came from Amsterdam, of the equipment and October. 
dispatch of several private ships to New Netherland, in an- 
ticipation of the more definite arrangements of the West 

* Parl.Deb.,1620-1,260, 318, 319; Commons' .Toiirnal, i., 591, 592, 640-669 ; Chalmers, 
83, 100, 101 ; Gorges, Brief Narration, in Mass. Hist. Coll., xxvi., 66, 71, 72 ; Baneron, i., 
272, 327 ; Grahame's Hist. U. S., i., 199; ii., 161, 162, Am. ed. ; Chalmers's Revolt of the 
Colonics, i., 25, 26. t London Doc, i., 12 ; N. Y. Col. MSS., iii., 5. 



140 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. V. India Company. Notwithstanding the proviso in their pat- 
ent, the Plymouth Company resolved to lose no time in 
vindicating their claim of English title against the Hol- 
landers, who, they alleged, " as interlopers, fell into the 
middle between"* Virginia and New England. 

Complaints Avarice and self-interest "rarely right" adiust the "wa- 

acainst the . , . ^ . 

Dutch oc- vermg balance; and the ethics of corporations are pro- 

cupation of i • n • i t i i rrn t • i -r>i 

New Neth- verbially convenient and pliable, ihe policy ol the rlym- 
outh Company was, from the first, grasping and arrogant. 
Finding the king on their side, they determined to main- 
tain the exclusive privileges which they had won from the 
crown, A formal complaint was, therefore, presented by 
the Earl of Arundel, Sir Ferdinando Gorges, Sir Samuel 
Argall, the superseded governor of Virginia, and Captain 
John Mason, against the " Dutch intruders" into New 
Netherland. Three days before the dissolution of Parlia- 
ment, James accordingly directed the lords of his council 
to instruct Sir Dudley Carleton, the British ambassador 
at the Hague, to bring the subject to the special notice of 
Letter of the States Greneral. The council at once addressed a dis- 
councii to patch to Carleton, in which the English government, for 
ambassa- thc first timc, distinctly asserted the unlawfulness of the 
Hague. Dutch occupatiou of New Netherland. " Whereas," said 
15 Dec. their lordships, "his majesty's subjects have many years 
since taken possession of the whole precinct, and inhabited 
some parts of the north of Virginia (by us called New En- 
gland), of all which countries his majesty hath, in like man- 
ner, some years since, by patent, granted the quiet and full 
possession unto particular persons ; nevertheless, we under- 
stand that, the year past,! the Hollanders have entered upon 
some part thereof, and have left a colony, and given new 
names to the several ports appertaining to that part of the 
country, and are now in readiness to send for their supply 

* Letter of Captain John Mason, in Lonil. Doc, i., 47, and in N. Y. Col. MSS., iii., 
16, 17 ; Gorges, in iii. Mass. Hist. Coll., vi., 72. 

t This allegation certainly does not support Plantagenet's story of Argall's visit to Man- 
hattan in 1613. If Argall had actually been there that year, and found " a pretended Dutch 
governor," &c., &c., he would hardly have joined in a representation to the king, in the 
autumn of 1621, which alleged that the Hollanders had settled themselves there only " the 
year past," that is, in 1620 ; see Appendi,\, Note E. 



cluiiii. 



JAMES LAYS CLAIM TO NEW NETHERLAND. 141 

six or eight ships ; whereof his majesty heing advertised, chap. v. 

we have received his royal commandment to sisTiify his ~~~~~. 

1621 
pleasure that you should represent these things to the 

States Greneral in his majesty's name (who, Jure primce 

occupationis, hath good and sufficient title to those parts), 

and require of them that as well those ships as their further 

prosecution of that plantation may be presently stayed."* 

But the Plymouth Company, in their overreaching zeal, Faiiacious- 
betrayed the Privy Council into serious errors in this im- English 
portant state paper. After the failure of the Sagadahoc 
colony, we have seen that no English subjects inhabited 
any part of the deserted territory north of Virginia, until 
the arrival of the Mayflower at Cape Cod. The interme- 
diate region, between that Cape and the Chesapeake, was 
unexplored by the English, and was almost unknown to 
them, until Dermer sailed through Long Island Sound in 
1619. Yet, in contradiction to Dermer's statements, that 
the Dutch were quietly " settled" at Manhattan in the 
spring of 1620, and that they had " had a trade in Hud- 
son's River some years before that time," the Plymouth 
Company induced the Privy Council of England to affirm, 
at the close of 1621, that the Hollanders had "entered" 
into occupation there only " the year past." 

Carleton, on the receipt of the Privy Council's dispatch, 1622. 
proceeded to make inquiries on the subject, before he •''*""'*'■- 
brought it to the notice of the States G-eneral. All he Result of 

11 1 T n r- ■ 1 Carleton'-s 

learned was, that about four or five years previously, two inquiries in 
"particular companies of Amsterdam merchants" had be- 
gun a trade to America, between the fortieth and forty- 
fifth degrees of north latitude, to which regions they had, 
" after their manner," given the names of New Nether- 
land, North and South Sea, Texel, Vlieland, and the like, 
and had ever since continued to send there vessels of six- 
ty or eighty tons burden, at most, to fetch furs, which 
was " ill their trade." For this purpose, they had kept 
" factors there, continually resident," to trade with the 
savages. But Carleton could not learn that any colony 

* London Doc, i., 17, 47 ; N. Y. Col. MSS., iii., 6, 16, 17 ; Hubbard, 226. 



142 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. V. had as yet been planted there by the Dutch, or was " so 

~ much as intended."* 
i;arieton'8 Fortified with this partial information, {he ambassadoi 
wi't'iTthe asked an audience of the States General, and presented a 
^r'ai'^'**^''"" written memorial, in which he claimed that the " tran- 
•' *""''■ quil and plenary possession" of the whole country north 
of Virginia was vested, by patent, " in several private per- 
sons," subjects of the King of England, whose title, " by 
right of first occupation," he boldly atlirmed was " not to 
be contradicted." And, in the name of the king, he per- 
emptorily demanded that the States General should not 
only arrest the ships already equipped for voyages to the 
Dutch plantation, but should also expressly prohibit any 
further prosecution of the enterprise.! 
i) Feb. When Carle ton's memorial was read in the meeting of 

the States General, the deputies from the Province of Hol- 
land, professing to be ignorant of the circumstances, re- 
quested that it might be referred to them. But no report 
in .M;irch. came from the Holland delegation. A month afterward, 
the ambassador having asked definite action, the States 
General directed Burgomaster Pauw, one of their mem- 
bers, to write to the " participants m the trade to New 
Netherland" for information. Carleton continuing to press 
•27 April, the States for a decisive answer, ihey resolved that in- 
quiries should be made " for what had been printed at 
Amsterdam on this subject." Here the whole question 
seems to have ended. The States General, engrossed 
with warlike preparations against Spain, knew little about 
New Netherland ; which, besides, was now placed under 
Result of the exclusive iurisdiction of the West India Company. It 

Carlcton's •' i i 

interfer- docs uot appear that any answer was ever returned to the 

PllCG. 

British government, either through Carleton, or through 

Caron, the Dutch ambassador at London. Captain John 

1 632. Mason, it is true, in writing to Secretary Coke, ten years 

'J April, afterward, asserted that Caron had disclaimed, on the 

part of the States General, " any such act that was done 

* London Doc, i., 19; N. Y. Col. MSS., iii., 7. 
t London Doc, i., 22 ; N. Y. Col. MSS., iii., 8. 



THE BRITISH CLAIM TO NEW NETHEIILAND INVALID I43 

by their people with their authority." But nothing to chap \ 
that effect has been found after recent diligent searches, ~ 
both in the Archives at the Hague and in the State Paper 
Office at London.* 

With respect to the claim of sovereignty over New Futility of 
Netherland, which James directed his ambassador to as- claim, 
sert so boldly, it is remarkable that the Parliament of En- 1621. 
gland, somewhat earlier in the same year, insisted that 
" occupancy confers a good title by the law of nations and 
Nature ;"t and upon this principle the right of Spain, un- 
der the gift of Pope Alexander VI. was again denied, be- 
cause, if admitted, it would have defeated the English 
title to Virginia and Bermuda. In this the Parliament 
only reaffirmed the position taken by Queen Elizabeth in 
1580, when she refused to recognize the Spanish claim, 
and insisted that " prescription without possession is of no 
avail."t Under this rule, thus formally confirmed, it is 
clear that the " prescription" of England, by reason of Ca- 
bot's voyage, was entirely annulled, so far as regards those 
parts of North America which were not actually possessed 
or occupied by English subjects. 

The British right to Virginia and Bermuda was, nev- Law of na- 
ertheless, readily admitted by other European nations ; specting 
among which it had become the established law, that oc- and posses 

, . T r • ■ -1 sions. 

cupation IS the " primary mode 01 acquirmg a title to 
unowned territory. "s^ This law was recognized and acted 
upon by France with respect to Canada, and by Holland 
with respect to New Netherland. The title of England 
to Virginia was never questioned by the Dutch ; their 
government had distinctly admitted it in 1608 and 1610.11 
In the original trading charter granted by the States G-en- 
eral in 1614, the regions which the Dutch had first ex- 
plored, and named New Netherland, were unambiguously 

* IIol. Doc, i., 117, 119 ; Lond. Doc, i., 31, 47 ; N. Y. Col. MSS., iii., 11,16; Gorges, 
in Mass. Hist. Coll., xxvi., 72 ; Address before N. Y. H. S., 1844, p. 25, 26. 

t Chalmers, 6 ; Pari. Debates, 1620-1, p. 250. X Ante, p. 4. 

I) Grotius, ii., 2. " Primus acquirendi modus qui juris gentium a Romanis dicitur, est 
occupatio eorum qus nuUius sunt." Chalmers, 0, however, states the law to be, "that 
the countries which each should explore shall be deemed the absolute property of the dis- 
coverer." II Hoi. Doc, i., 5, 0, 35, 38 ; Winwood's Mem., iii., 239 



114 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. V. declared to be between Virginia on the south and Canada 
on the north. The actual occupation of the coasts of 
" ■ Maine by the English as early as 1607 — though it was 
soon discontinued for several years — gave England a suf- 
ficient title to that quarter ; and the Hollanders never at- 
tempted to interfere with the British claim to the territo- 
ry north of Cape Cod. But with respect to the regions 
between that Cape and Virginia, which they had them- 
selves so thoroughly explored before any other Europeans, 

The Dutch the Dutch insisted upon the validity of their own rights. 

Netheriand Whcu the Amsterdam Company built their Fort Nassau 
on the North River in 1614, it is quite certain that there had 
been no English "occupancy" of any portion of New Neth- 
eriand south of Cape Cod, so as to confer a title according 
to the opinions of Q,ueen Elizabeth and of Parliament. The 
English, in fact, until Dermer's voyage, were entirely ig- 
norant even of the geography of that part of the coast. 
Holland vessels alone had explored it ; Hollanders alone 
had occupied it. By British law, and by the law of na- 
tions, the Dutch title to New Netheriand was complete. 
The New England patent of King James, so far as it in- 
terfered with the rights of the Dutch, might, therefore, 
according to the judgment of Queen Elizabeth, and of the 
Parliament of Grreat Britain itself, be at least as fairly de- 
rided, as was the Pontiff's earlier grant to the Spaniards. 
1622. The Plymouth Company, however, if they did not suc- 

t^onts "i'nst ceed in obtaining from the States Greneral a renunciation 

tradwi'To of the right of the Dutch to New Netheriand, had influence 

.^i^nii.^" enough to procure from King James a further measure of 
protection against the acts of British subjects. Complaints 
were made to the crown that " sundrie interlopers" into 
New England had committed "intolerable abuses," inter- 
fered with " some of the planters there," " ruined whole 
woods," traded promiscuously with the savages, supplied 
them with fire-arms, and overthrown the trade and ccm- 
merce, which were " the principal hopes for the advance- 
ment of that plantation, next unto the commodities that 

23 October, coast aflfords for fishing." An order in council was prompt- 



DUTCH TRADERS IN LONG ISLAND SOUND. I45 

ly made for the issuing of a royal proclamation against ir- Chap. v. 

resailar traders to New England. A few days afterward, 

1622 

the king accordingly proclaimed and commanded that „ ^^^ ' 

none of his subjects whatsoever, "not adventurers, inhab- ' 
iters, or planters in New England, presume from hence- 
forth to h-equent those coasts, to trade or traffic with those 
people, or to intermeddle in the woods or freehold of any 
of the planters or inhabitants," except by the license of 
the Plymouth Company, or according to the orders of the 
Privy Council.* 

Meanwhile, the Amsterdam ships had been quietly pur- special 
suing their voyages to New Netherland, under the special NewWh- 
licenses of the Dutch government ; and some of them de- 
layed their return to Holland so long, that their owners 
were obliged to ask of the States Greneral an extension of is June, 
the time limited for their arrival home.t The trade in Peitry trade 

.1, of the 

peltry was industriously prosecuted, not only on the North i^wch in 

•^ •' 11 Narragan- 

and South Rivers, but on the " Fresh" or Connecticut Riv- sett Bay. 
er ; and Dutch shallops constantly visited the shores of 
Long Island Sound, and trafficked with the native Indian 
tribes as far east as Narragansett and Buzzard's Bays. 
Their favorite resort was Manomet, at the head of Buz- 
zard's Bay, and within about twenty miles of the recent 
Puritan settlement at New Plymouth.1: But the pioneers 
of New England, occupied with the pressing cares of their 
infant colony, were not yet prepared to interfere with the 
lucrative trade which their more ancient neighbors in New 
Netherland were now carrying on, almost at their very 
doors. With the native tribes the Dutch generally culti- Relations 
vated the most amicable relations. The treaty made ondians. 
the banks of the Tawasentha continued to be faithfully 
observed with the Mohawks, the Mahicans, and the North 
River Indians, who were the immediate neighbors and al- 
lies of the Dutch. At Esopus, a large traffic was main- 
tained with boats and shallops. But the more distant 
tribes were treated with less consideration. Jacob Eel- 

* Lond. Doc, i., 32; N. Y. Col. MSS., iii., H ; Rymcr Federa, xvii., 416; Morton's 
Memorial, 98 ; Prince's Annals, 218. t Hoi. Doc, i., 120. t Prince, 208. 

K 



146 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. V. kens, wlio had remained in superintendence of the trade 

near Castle Island, made frequent visits to the eastern 
1622 
Eeikens's coasts and rivers of New Netherland ; and in the summer 

d^ '^°"' of 1622, having ascended the Connecticut to traffic with 
the Sequins, near the present town of Wethersfield, he 
treacherously imprisoned their chief on hoard his yacht, 
and would not release him until a ransom of one hundred 
and forty fathoms of wampum had heen exacted. This 
outrage naturally alienated the eastern Indians ; and the 
Sequin chief, refused to have any more dealings with the 
treacherous Eelkens, who was soon afterward discharged 
by his offended superiors from the post he had dishonored.* 

Walloons The Fatherland was now preparino' to send permanent 

in Holland. . • , , r i^t tvt i i i 

emigrants to subdue the wilderness oi JNew JNetherland. 
Early in this year, while Carleton was engaged in obtain- 
ing the preliminary information which he desired before 
presenting his memorial to the States Greneral, he had 
January, been applied to by some families of Walloons, settled at 
Amsterdam, for permission to emigrate to Virginia and 
establish a colony, to be governed by magistrates of their 
own election.! These Walloons, whose name was de- 
rived from their original " Waalsche," or French extrac- 
tion, t had passed through the fire of persecution. They 
inhabited the Southern Belgic Provinces of Hainault, Na- 
mur, Luxemburg, Limburg, and part of the ancient Bish- 
opric of Liege ; and spoke the old French language. When 
the northern provinces of the Netherlands formed their po- 
litical union at Utrecht in 1579, the southern provinces, 
which were generally attached to the Roman Church, de- 
clined joining the Confederation. Many of their inhabit- 
ants, nevertheless, professed the principles of the Reforma- 
tion. Against these Protestant Walloons the Spanish gov- 
ernment exercised the most rigid measures of inquisitorial 
vengeance; and the subjects of an unrelenting persecution 

* Wassenaar, xii., 39 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii., 45 ; De Vrics, 113. 

t Lond. Doc, i., 24 ; N. Y. Col. MSS., iii., 9, 10. 

t " Bordering on France, and spcaliing the French language, they were termed GaUois^ 
which was changed, in Low Dutch, into Waalsche, and in English into Walloon" — Rev. 
Dr. Dc Witt, in N. Y. U. S. Proc, 1848, p. 75. 



THE WALLOONS "IN HOLLAND. 147 

emigrated by thousands into Holland, where they knew Chap. v. 

that strangers of every race and creed were sure of an 

asylum and a welcome. Carrying with them a knowl- ■^"'^'*- 
edge of the arts, in which they were great proficients, 
they were distinguished in their new home for their taste- 
ful and persevering industry. To the "Walloons the Dutch 
were probably indebted for much of the repute which they 
gained as a nation in many branches of manufactures.* 
Finding in Holland a fi:'ee scope for the enjoyment of their 
religious opinions, the Walloons soon introduced the pub- 
lic use of their church service, which, to this day, bears 
witness to the characteristic toleration and liberality of 
the Fatherland. By degrees, the fame of the New World waiioons 
reached the ears of the artisans of Amsterdam ; and some cense to go 

to Virginia. 

of the Belgian refugees applied to Carleton for formal en- 
couragement to emigrate to Virginia. The ambassador, 
having no powers to make arrangements with them, com- 
municated their application to the king, by whom it was 
ordered to be referred to the Virginia Company. But the 
conditions which the company offered did not appear to Are not en- 
have been satisfactory to the Walloons ; and the abortive 
negotiation ended.! Thus Virginia lost the advantage of 
having an ingenious, brave, and industrious race added to 
her, perhaps, too homogeneous population. 

What Virginia lost New Netherland gained. Cosmo- 
politan Amsterdam was to impress its character upon cos- 
mopolitan Manhattan. In the New World, a metropolis 
soon arose, giving a home to emigrants from all climes 
and of all races ; and where the lavish gifts of beneficent 
nature are enjoyed in common by the multifarious, enter- 
prising, and prosperous inhabitants who crowd its busy 
streets. The city which Amsterdam originated can never 
forget the magnanimous policy and liberal example of its 
sagacious founder. 

The Provincial States of Holland, ascertaining that sev- The states 
eral families of Walloons had applied to Carleton for per- luvor me 

• • i • -IT- • • 1 1 T , 111 Walloons. 

mission to emigrate to Virginia, thought that "they should aoApru. 

McCulIagh, ii., 267. t London Doc., i., 29 ; N. Y. Col. MSS., iii., 10. 



148 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



1622. 



Chap. V. rather be secured for the West India Company ;" and the 

subject was referred to the directors of that corporation, 

to consider " what could be therein done for their service." 

21 April. The directors promptly reported that the emigration of 

these Walloons would be " very advantageous" to the 

company ; and that immediate measures should be taken 

to secure them, and to -give them employment, until the 

company should be formally organized, and be able to 

send them out as colonists. The views of the directors 

were approved by the Provincial States, and the attention 

of the magistracy of Amsterdam was officially directed to 

the subject.* 

1623. At length, after two years of preliminary preparation, 

Finai"or- the Wcst India Company obtained the assent of the States 

of the'wTs t G"eneral to its articles of internal government, in June, 

pany. ^°™ 1623, and began to prosecute with energy the objects of 

its incorporation. The same month, three pioneer ships, 

the Orange Tree, the Eagle, and the Love, were dispatched 

to the West Indies, " to maintain the course of traffic, and 

in the hope of realizing their first returns."! 

NewNeih- The Colonization of New Netherland, however, became 

made a the first carc of the company. That somewhat indefinite 

province. ii i • -n • 

territory was formally erected into a rrovince, and "hon- 
ored" by the States General with a grant of the armorial 
distinction of a count.t As soon as the stock of the com- 
pany was secured, and the several boards of directors were 
Assigned choscn, the College of the XIX. assigned the particular 

to the care ' ^ . . , 

of the Am- management of the affairs of the province to the Chamber 

slerdam ~ ^ 

Chamber, at Amsterdam. Among the prominent members of that 
chamber were Jonas Witsen,^ one of the grantees of the 
original trading charter of 1614, Hendrick Hamel, Samuel 
Groclyn, Samuel Blommaert, John de Laet, the historian, 
Kiliaen van Rensselaer, Michael Pauw, and Peter Evert- 

* Hoi. Doc, i., 118 ; Res. IIol. and West Friesland ; Muilkerk, Bydragen, B. 11. 

+ De Laet, .laerlyck Verhael ; Hazard, i., 174-178 ; Wassenaar, v., 91. 

t Hoi. Doc, iv., 39. The Provincial seal of New Netherland was a shield bearing a 
beaver, proper, surmounted by a count's coronet, and encircled by the words " Sigillum 
Novi Belgii." 

t) Jonas Witscn died at Amsterdam in October, 1626 : Garret Jacobsen Witsen died in 
January of the same year. — Wassenaar, x., 116. 



THE WEST INDIA COMPANY POSSESS NEW NETHERLAND. I49 

sen Hulft, whose names are identified with the first Eu- chap. v. 
ropean possession of the five states of New York, New 
Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut.* ""^' 

Aware of the jealousy of the English government, the TUe West 
"West India Company did not delay arrangements to se- pany takes 
cure their title to New Netlierland by more extended act- of New- 

Neiher- 

ual occupation. " By virtue of their charter," and before land, 
their final organization, they "took possession of the coun- 
try" in the year 1622 ;t and trading vessels were prompt- 
ly sent out, bearing instructions to the oificers at Manhat- 
tan, and on the North River. The voyages of the Dutch 
ships, at this time, generally occupied about seven or eight 
weeks. On clearing the channel, they laid their course circuitous 
for the Canary Islands ; whence they stretched across the tiie Dutch 
Atlantic toward Gruiana and the Carribees, and then ran 
obliquely toward the northwest, between the Bahamas and 
the Bermudas, until they made the coasts of Virginia.! 
By steering this circuitous southern course, they avoided 
the severe gales of the North Atlantic, and had the oppor- 
tunity of refitting, when it was necessary. But their voy- 
ages were sometimes protracted by the temptation to lin- 
ger at anchor ; and the yacht Mackarel, which sailed from 
the Texel in June, consumed so much time among the ig June. 
Carribee Islands in unsuccessful fishing, that she did not 
arrive at Manhattan until the middle of December, which 12 Dec. 
was " somewhat late," remarks the quaint chronicler.^ 

The situation of the redoubt on the Tawasentha proving a now fort 
inconvenient, arrangements were now made to build, on on the 
the west bank of the river, a few miles further north, a er. 
larger and more permanent fortification, " with four an- 
gles," and to be named "Fort Orange," in honor of the 
stadtholder. At the same time, preparations were made 
for the permanent occupation of the genial valley of the 
South River ; and by order of the Amsterdam Chamber, 

* Moulton, 369 ; Be Laet, Jaerlyck Verhael. t Hoi. Doc, ii., 370. 

J Wassenaar, vi., 144. Guiana was frequently called by the Dutch " dc Wilde Custc," 
and the Carribees " de Wilde Eylanden."— De Vries, Voyages, p. 120, 137 ; Otto Keye's 
Kurtz.er Entwurff, &c. 

t) Wassenaar, vii., 11 ; De Laet, App., 3 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii., 36. 



150 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



1622. 

A fort on 
the South 



4 



Chap. V. some of the traders from Manhattan selected a position on 
its east bank, at a spot which the natives called " Te- 
kaacho." It was near the present town of Gloucester, in 
RrvM^'so ^^"^^ Jersey, at the mouth of the Timmer Kill, or Timber 
projected. Qj^ek, then called " Sassackon." Here, among the rem- 
nants of the once formidable Lenni-Lenape tribes, a few 
Dutch traders projected the first European fort on the 
shores of the Delaware.* 
1623. The spring of the year 1623 was the era of the first per- 
manenf ag- mauent agricultural colonization of New Netherland, un- 
c'(5onizV der the authority of the West India Company. Anxious 
Nether- "^^ to commeuce their colony with willing and active emi- 
grants, the Amsterdam Chamber equipped the " New Neth- 
erland," a ship of two hundred and sixty tons burden, and 
embarked on board of it a company of thirty families. The 
greater part of these colonists were Walloons, who, dis- 
appointed in their first application to Carleton, now emi- 
grated to America under the auspices of the West India 
Company. The superintendence of the expedition was 
Corneiis intrusted to the experienced Cornells Jacobsen May, of 
May and Hoom, who was to remain in New Netherland as the First 
ri3 superin- Director of the colony ; while Adriaen Joris, of Thienpoint, 

tend the ex- , , -, ■ ■, , 

pciiition. went out as second in command.! 

The New Netherland sailed from the Texel in the be- 

March. ginning of March ; and, shaping her course by the Canary 

Islands and the coast of G-uiana, arrived safely, in the be- 

May. ginning of May, at the North River. At the mouth of the 

anive'in river, a French vessel was found lying at anchor, whose 

Ince^'^"^ captain wished to set up the arms of the King of France, 

and take possession in the name of his sovereign. But 

"the Hollanders," faithful to the States Greneral and to the 

Directors of the West India Company, whose designs they 

were unwilling to see frustrated, " would not let him do 

it." The yacht Mackarel having just then returned from 

up the North River, where she had been trading with the 

* Wassenaar, vii., 11, 12 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii., 35, 36; Moulton, 366-368; Mickle's 
Reminiscences, 3 ; S. Hazard's Annals of Pennsylvania, 13 ; Appendix, Note K. 

t Wassenaar, vii., 11 ; xii., 38 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii., 35, 43 ; Hoi. Doc, ii., 368 ; Alb. 
Rec, xxiv., 167. 



FORT ORANGE BUILT. \Q\ 

Indians, was armed at once with a couple of pieces of can- chap. v. 
non, and under her convoy the Frenchman was forced to 
sea. Unwilling to be balked in his pertinacious loyalty, j)eg?nfof 
the French captain immediately sailed to the South Riv- {,^^^5^"*^'' 
er, and attempted the same experiment ; " but he was 
foiled in a similar manner by the settlers there."* 

This affair having been satisfactorily accomplished. The wcst 
eight men were left at Manhattan "to take possession" pany takes 
for the West India Company. Several families, together Sr Manha" 
with a number of sailors and men, were also detailed for 
service and colonization on the South River, and to the 
eastward of Manhattan. The New Netherland then went colonists 
up the North River to Castle Island. When she had pro- Northluv* 
ceeded " as far as Sopus, which is half way," her draft of "' 
water was found to be a serious impediment. The ship 
was, therefore, lightened " with some boats that were left 
there by the Dutch, that had been there the year before, a 
trading with the Indians upon their own accounts, and 
gone back again to Holland." By this means, they at 
length " brought the vessel up."t 

On the west shore of the river, just above Castle Island, 
" a fort with four angles, named Orange," which had been Fort or- 
projected the previous year, was immediately " thrown 
up and completed." The colonists forthwith " put the 
spade in the earth," and began farming operations so vig- 
orously, that, before the yacht Mackarel returned to Hol- 
land, their corn " was nearly as high as a man, so that 
they were getting along bravely." About eighteen fami- 
lies settled themselves at Fort Orange, under Adriaen Jo- 
ris, who " staid with them all winter," after sending his 

* Wassenaar, vil., 11 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii., 35. 

t Depositions of Cateliiia Trico, in Deed Book, vii., and in N. Y. Col. MSS., xxxv. ; Doc. 
Hist. N. Y., iii., 49-51. These depositions were made in 1685 and 1688, in which latter 
year the deponent was eighty-three years old. Trico states that she wa.s born in Paris, 
and that she came ont to New Netherland in the year 1023, in the " ship called the Unity 
(Ecndragt?), whereof was commander Arien Joris, belonging to the West India Company, 
being the first ship that came here for the said company." There is a slight discrepancy 
between Trico's testimony and Wassenaar's account, which states the name of the ship 
as the " New Netherland." Wassenaar's account was contemporaneous, and it is con- 
firmed by IIol. Doc, ii., 370 ; on the other hand, the depositions of Trico were sworn to 
when she was eighty-three years old, and they describe events which happened sixty-five 
years before, when she was only eighteen years of age. 



152 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. V. ship liome to Holland in charge of his son. As soon as 
the colonists had built themselves "some huts of bark" 



1623 

New alii- around the fort, the Mahikanders, or River Indians, the 

Tween the Moliawks, the Oueidas, the Onondagas, the Cayugas, and 
t^e'in-^"*^ the Senecas, with the Mahawawa or Ottawawa Indians, 
dians. a c^mc and made covenants of friendship" with Joris, 
" bringing him great presents of beaver or other peltry, 
and desired that they might come and have a constant 
free trade with them, which was concluded upon." For 
several years afterward, the Indians " were all as quiet as 
lambs, and came and traded with all the freedom imag- 
inable."* 
.lacobEei- Eclkeus, whose base conduct the year before, in im- 
seded. prisoning the Sequin chief on board his yacht, had pro- 
duced general disgust, was no longer employed by the 
Daniel van Company ; and Daniel van Krieckebeeck was installed as 
beeck ctm- Deputy Commissary at Fort Orange. The new command- 
Fort or-^ cr, whosc name, " for brevity's sake," the colonists soon 
"""''' contracted into " Beeck," became very popular among 
them, and executed his functions so satisfactorily, " that 
he was thanked." The management of the fur trade 
along the river, and in the neighborhood of Manhattan, 
Peter Ba- was iutrustcd, after Eelkens's supersedure, to Peter Ba- 

rentsen su- ^ 

perintend- rentscu, wlio, for scvcral years, performed his duties to the 

entofthe ' ' i t i 

Indian mutual Satisfaction of the Indians and of the company.t 

trade. i 

After the construction of Fort Orange, the colonists 
" also placed upon the Prince's Island, formerly called the 
Murderer's Island, a fort, which was named by them 
Fort"wu- ' Wilhelmus ;' open (plat) in front, with a curtain in the 
rear, and garrisoned by sixteen men for the defense of the 
river below."t 

* Wassenaar, vii., 11 ; Trico's Deposition, in N. V. Col. MSS., xxxv. ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., 
iii., 35, 51. Wassenaar says that Fort Orange was built on the island. In this he is in- 
accurate. Fort Nassau, which was swept away and abandoned in 1617, was on Castle 
Island. " Fort Orange was built on the alluvion ground now ocrui)ied by the business 
part of the city of Albany. The site was that on which stands the building lately known 
as the ' Fort Orange Hotel,' formerly the mansion of the late Simeon Do Witt." — D. D. 
Uarnard's Address before the Albany Institute, 1839. The Fort Orange Hotel was de- 
stroyed in the great Dre of 1847. 

t Wassenaar, vii., 11 ; xii., 38, 39 ; De Vries, 113 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii., 36, 44, 45. 

t I limit the text to the exact words of Wassenaar, vii., 11 (and translated in Doc. Hist. 



helmus.' 



FORT NASSAU, ON THE SOUTH RIVER. 153 

The pertinacious attempt which the French captain, chap. v. 
who had been convoyed out of the waters of Manhattan, "TT^o" 
made to set up the arms of France on the South River, 
though it had been promptly thwarted by the Dutch trad- 
ers whom he found there, showed the necessity of a per- 
manent post to protect the rights of the Dutch. May, 
whose previous voyages to that region had made him well 
acquainted with the country, now hastened to construct a 
log-fort, on the point at the mouth of the " Timmer Kill," 
which had been previously selected. This post, like the Fort Nas- 

11-1 /-I 1 T 1 1 saubuilton 

first Dutch establishment on Castle Island, was named mc south 

River. 

" Fort Nassau," in compliment to the family of the Prince 
of Orange. About tliree weeks after the arrival of the 
New Netherland at Manhattan, four couples, who had been June, 
married at sea, on their voyage from Holland, together with 
eight seamen, were sent in a yacht to the South River, First Euro- 
"by order of the Dutch governor," to settle themselves msts eet- 

xl rm 1 r- 1 • ^'^"i there. 

there, ihe new home oi the pioneers was on the east, or 
Jersey shore, near Grloucester, about four miles below the 
present city of Philadelphia.* 

A few of the New Netherland's passengers, consisting of 
" two families and six men," it is said, were sent, directly 
the ship arrived at Manhattan, to the Fresh or Connecticut May. 

T. • 1 1 ■ /• 1 r The Fresh 

River, to commence the actual occupation of that part of or connec- 

• A lie T 1 ticut River 

the Dutch province. A small fort, or trading: post, the occupied by 

^ 1 TT ,1 • -11 1 1 -1 .the Dutch. 

" (rood Hope," IS said to have been also now projected and 
begun ; but it was not finished until 1633, ten years aft- 
erward.! 

Another portion of the colonists, who came out in thewaiioons 
New Netherland, consisting chiefly of Walloons, soon set- LonJ is"" 
tied themselves at a " bogt," or small bay, on the west wa'ai-bogt. 

N. Y., iii., p. 35), without adding any suggestions of my own as to the position of Fort 
" Wilhelnms." The subject, however, is considered in note K, in the Appendix. 

* Wassenaar, vii., 11 ; Vertoogh Van N. N., in Hoi. Doc, iv., 71-207, and in ii., N. Y. 
H. S. Coll., ii., 272, 280 ; Hoi. Doc, ii., 370 ; viii., 73 ; De Vries, 102 ; i., N. Y. H. S. Coll., 
iii., 375; Depositions, in iii., Doc. Hist. N. Y., 49, 50, 51 ; Moulton, 366; Ferris, 19; 
O'Call., i., 100 ; Mulford's N. J., 49 ; S. Hazard's Ann. Penn., 12, 13 ; Appendix, note K. 

t Deposition of Catelina Trico, in N. Y. Col. MSS., xxxv., and in iii.. Doc. Hist. N. Y., 
p. 50 ; Vertoogh van N. N., in Hoi. Doc, iv., 71-207, and in ii., N. Y. H. S. Coll., ii., 276, 
277. Trico says, that " as soon as they came to Mannatans, now called New York, they 
sent two families and six men to Harford River." 



154 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. V. shore of Long Island, nearly opposite to " Nechtonk," or 
1 roQ Corker's Hook, on Manhattan. This settlement, which 
* was just north of " Marechkawieck," or Brooklyn,* before 
long became familiarly known as the " Waal-bogt," or 
Walloon's Cove. The colonists tlirove apace. Other em- 
igrants followed the first adventurers from Holland ; and 
here, in the month of June, 1625, Sarah Rapelje was born 
— the first ascertained offspring of European parentage in 
the province of New Netherland. These early colonists 
are not to be confounded with the Waldenses, who subse- 
quently emigrated from Amsterdam. The descendants of 
the Walloons soon spread themselves over the country in 
the vicinity of the Waal-bogt ; and the names of many of 
the most respectable families on Long Island to this day 
attest their French and Belgian origin.! 

CI. May, Cornells Jacobsen May was now formally installed in 

First Di- . / '' 

rector of his officc as the First Director of New Netherland, under 

New Neth- 
erland the Dutch West India Company. His administration, 

1624. however, lasted only one year. In Holland, it was hoped 
that the colony, so prosperously begun, would, with proper 
management, go on thriftily. Whoever was placed as 
commander over the colonists, should exercise his author- 
ity "as their father, and not as their executioner; leading 
May's ad- them witli a gentle hand. For he who governs them as a 
tion. friend and associate, will be beloved by them ; but he who 

shall rule them as a superior, will overthrow and bring to 
naught every thing, yea, will stir up against him the 
neighboring, provinces, to which the impatient will fly. 
'Tis better to govern by love and friendship than by force." 
During May's brief directorship. Fort Orange was com- 
pleted on the North River, and Fort Nassau on the South 
River. The fur trade was more systematically prosecuted ; 

* The name of this beautiful and prosperous city is a corruption of its original Dutch 
appellation, " Breuckelen," which was derived from that of the pretty village about eight- 
een miles from Amsterdam, on the road to Utrecht. The Walloons, as has been stated 
(ante, p. 146), derived their name from their" Wnalsche," or French origin. In the prog- 
ress of years, their old " Waal-bogt" has become Englished into the present " Walla- 
bout." 

t Benson's Memoir, 04 ; Moulton, 370, 371 ; Alb. Rec., xi., 332 ; Dr. De Witt, in N. Y. 
11. S. Proc, 1844, p. 55, and 1848, p. 75 ; Holgatc's American Genealogy. 



CORNELIS JACOBSEN MAY, DIRECTOR. 155 

and the "West India Company were soon gladdened with chap. v. 
the favorable intelligence which reached them from their 



infant colony. On his return to Amsterdam, Joris report- December, 
ed that " all was in good condition" in New Netherland, 
where the colonists were "getting bravely along," and cul- 
tivating friendly relations with the savages. All trade now 
inuring to the exclusive benefit of the West India Com- 
pany, the cargo of valuable furs which Joris brought back 
to Holland, as a first year's remittance from New Nether- 
land, on its public sale at Amsterdam, added over twenty- 
eight thousand guilders to their treasury.* 

Meanwhile, the attention of the directors of that corpo- west India 
ration had been drawn to a supposed infringement, under arrests De 

. -r\-iT-i- Vries'sship 

their own eyes, of then* close monopoly. David rietersen at Hoom. 
de Vries, an enterprising mariner of Hoorn, having made 
several voyages to the Mediterranean and the banks of 
Newfoundland, procured a commission from the King 
of France, and, in partnership with some Rochelle mer- 
chants, bought a small vessel, for the purpose of going 
to the fisheries, " and to the coast of Canada, to trade in 
peltries." The directors of the West India Company, learn- 
ing the circumstance, sent a committee to Hoorn, and 
seized the ship, which was lying there ready to sail. De24Marcb. 
Vries protested that the end of his proposed voyage was 
beyolid the limits of the company's charter ; but he pro- 
tested in vain. The jealousy of the directors was aroused ; 
they were determined to prevent any vessels but their own 
from sailing out of Holland to the coasts of North Amer- 
ica. De Vries, however, was not disheartened. He ap- 
pealed to the States Greneral, and laid before them his 
commission from the King of France, countersigned by 
Admiral Montmorency. The government at the Hague e April. 

The States 

promptly interfered. A letter was addressed to the Col- General in- 
lege of XIX., warning them not to engage, in the begin- 
ning of their career, in needless disputes with neighboring 
European powers, especially with the French ; and advis- 

* Wassenaar, vii., 11 ; viii., 85 ; Doc. HiSt. N. Y., iii., 36, 37 ; Hoi. Doc, il., 368 ; De 
Laet, App., 29; Budartius, in Doc. Hist. N. Y., iv., 131, 132. 



156 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. V. ingthemto arrange the affair amicably with De Vries, whose 
proposed voyage was to Canada, and beyond the bounds of 
Devries's *^^ Company's charter. The directors, after great delay, 
fel'sed!' reluctantly freed the vessel from arrest, enjoining De Vries 
" not to go within their limits." But the voyage was en- 
tirely frustrated by their vexatious proceedings ; and De 
Vries, in the end, sold his ship to the Dordrecht Chamber. 
The jealous directors refused to make any compensation 
for the losses De Vries had suffered, who declared to them 
that he had undertaken his enterprise only with the patri- 
otic design " to make our Netherlands nation acquainted 
with those regions ; since our trade subsists by the sea."* 
1625. English jealousy, which had slumbered for three years 
angeTree," siucc Carlctou's first application to the States General to 
to New"'^^ restrain the Hollanders from trading to New Netherland, 
iand,Tr- was uow again aroused. Information was communicated 
Plymouth, to the Privy Council that a Dutch ship, the " Orange Tree" 
-Yf-^ of Amsterdam, had arrived at Plymouth, on a voyage "to 
a place in America which is comprehended in a grant 
made by His Majesty, upon just consideration, to divers 
of his subjects." The Lords of the Council, therefore, 
immediately directed Grorges and the authorities at Plym- 
outh to arrest the ship, and send the captain, " with his 
commission and the plat which he hath," up to London. 
No other result, however, than the detention of the Orange 
Tree, appears to have followed the action of the Privy 
Council. James L was drawing near the end of his days ; 
and though, personally, he was never cordially disposed 
toward the Dutch, the foreign relations of England had 
lately become so critically situated, that he had found it 
1624. expedient to form an alliance with the States G-eneral.t 
15 June. ■Un(jgj. these circumstances, he wisely judged it impolitic 

* Hoi. Doc, i., 126, 129, 133 ; Voyages of D. P. de Vries, 41, 42. I quote from the orifr- 
inal work of Ue Vries, published at Alckmaer in 1655. This very rare book, in its com- 
plete form, has never before been consulted by any of our writers, who, relying upon the 
wretched version from the Du Simitiere MSS. at Philadelphia (jmblished in ii. N. Y. H. 
S. Coll., i., 250-273), have been betrayed into grave errors, which it will be my duty to 
notice and correct. A faithful translation of De Vries, by Mr. II. C. Murphy, will soon be 
published by the New York Historical Society. 

t Lond. Doc, i., 34 ; N. Y. Uol. MSS., iii., 12 ; Wassenaar, v., 91 ; Corps. Dip., v., 2, 
458; Clarendon State Papers, i., 41 ; Aitzema, i., 691. 



CORNELIS JACOBSEN MAY, DIRECTOR. 157 

to ofiend, in any way, the powerful commercial company chap. v. 
which it was his evident interest to conciliate. 

Early in the year 1625, the attention of the inhabit- puiju^do,, 
ants of the United Provinces was attracted to the publica- ?^^^w^^^^ 
tion, at Leyden, of a black-letter folio History of the " NewLeyden.*^ 
World, or Description of the West Indies," by John de Laet, 
one of the most influential directors of the West India 
Company. This work, which was dedicated to the States 
Greneral, was composed from " various manuscript journals 
of different captains and pilots," whose names occur in the 
course of the descriptions ; and from this circumstance its 
historical authority is nearly equal to that of an original 
record. Among others, Hudson's own private journal is 
largely quoted from. This journal was probably handed 
to De Laet by the Amsterdam directors of the East India 
Company, to whom it had been transmitted from En- 
gland. It is a very remarkable coincidence, that au- 
thentic extracts of Hudson's own report of his adventures 
should thus have appeared in Holland, in the same year 
that Purchas was publishing at London, in his " Pil- Purchas's 

* P . "Pilgrims" 

grims," the formal log-book in which Juet, the mate of in London, 
the Half Moon, recorded the discovery of New Nether- 
land. Besides Hudson's private journal, De Laet appears 
to have had in his possession the original reports of Block, 
Christiaensen, and May. Until the recent reference to the 
earlier "Historical Relation" of Wassenaar — which con-wasse- 
tains a general statement of interesting events in Europe "Histo- 

riscliG VcF" 

and America from 1621 to 1632 — the work of De Laet naei" pub- 
was thought to contain the first published account of the Amster- 
Dutch province. Its authority is deservedly very high ; 
and had English and American ^vriters consulted its ac- 
curate pages, less injustice would, perhaps, have been done 
to the Hollanders who explored the coasts of New Nether- 
land, and piloted their adventurous yachts along the 
shores of its bays and streams, years before a British ves- 
sel ascended the North or South Rivers, or passed thi'ough 
Long Island Sound.* 

* There are four editions of De Lact's " New World." The first was published by the 



158 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



1625. 



Chap. V. The Capacity of New Netherland for cultivation and 

■production being now favorably known to the public, the 

West India Company determined to prosecute vigorously 

the work of colonization. The yacht Mackarel was again 

dispatched to Manhattan, with a cargo of " necessaries" 

25 April, for the use of the colonists already there. But when only 

27 April, two days out from the Texel, the vessel was captured in 

a fog by some of the enemy's privateers, and carried a prize 

into Dunkirk.* This mischance, however, was soon re- 

Huift sends paired. Peter Evertsen Hulft, one of the directors of the 

to Tew"''^ Amsterdam Chamber, promptly undertook to convey to the 

Nettierland , , i ■ . i i , • i • i , 

at his own colony, at his own risk, such necessary articles as might 
be provided. Two ships, each of two hundred and eighty 
tons burden, were accordingly fitted out in the same 

Apru. spring, and loaded with one hundred and three head of 
cattle, among which were stallions and mares, bulls and 
cows, for breeding, as well as swine and sheep. The an- 
imals were carefully provided for on shipboard, almost as 
well as on shore. " Each beast," says the exact Wasse- 
naar, " had its own separate stall," arranged upon a floor- 
ing of sand, three feet deep, which was laid upon a deck 
.specially constructed in the vessel. Under this deck each 
ship carried tliree hundred tuns of fresh water, for the use 
of the cattle. Hay and straw were provided in abundance 
for the voyage ; and all kinds of seeds, and plows and 
other farming implements, were sent on board for the use 
of the colony. Hulft also added a third ship to the ex- 
pedition, "that there should be no failure" in carrying out 
the enterprise he had undertaken. Along with these tliree 

A yacht vcsscls Went a fast-sailing yacht or "fluvt," fitted out bv 

alsosenlby ^ "^ ^ mi 

the compa- the dircctors of the company on their own account. These 
vessels carried out six entire families, besides several free 

Elzeviers of Leyden, in Dutch, in 1625 ; the second, also in Dutch, revised and enlarged, 
in 1030 ; the third, in Latin, in 1033 ; and the fourth, in French, in 1040. Translations 
of extracts from the third book of De Lact have been published in the second series of N. 
Y. II. S. Collections, i., 289-315 ; ii., 373. De Lact also wrote a " History of the West 
India Company," which was published by the Elzeviers in 1041 ; but it has not been trans- 
lated. Whde I was in Holland in 1841, efforts were made to ascertain the fate of De Lael's 
papers, and procure the original documents from which he wrote. But in vain. 
* Wassenaar, ix.. 37 ; ii., N. Y. II. S. Coll., ii., 301. 



WILLIAM VERHULST, DIRECTOR. 159 

emigrants (" vrye persoonen"); so that forty-five new set- chap. v. 
tiers were thus added to the population of New Nether- 
land. " This colony has a great scope, lying close by the 
track of the Spaniards from the West Indies," said the sa- 
gacious merchants of Amsterdam, as the little squadron 
sailed gayly into the Zuyder Zee.* 

The voyage was entirely successful ; only two of the Juiy. 
beasts died at sea. On their arrival, they were first land- tue voyage. 
ed at " Nutten," or Grovernor's Island ; but that spot fur- landed on 
nishing no sufficient pasture, they were taken, a day or and. 

two afterward, by shallops and barges, to Manhattan. Transfer- 

11 1 11 1 • 1 red to Man- 

There they eventually throve very well on the rich grass, uatian. 

"as beautiful and long as one could wish," which abound- 
ed in the valleys. But, being at first allowed to run 
wild, about twenty in all died, from eating some poison- 
ous herbage, which covered the fallow soil with its rank 
luxuriance. In the same summer and autumn, the Am- juiy. 
sterdam directors were gladdened by the arrival of two ves- ■^°^''='"''^''- 
sols from New Netherland, "loaded mostly with peltries," 
and bringing news of the " great contentment" of the ad- 
venturers.! 

Strengthened by this last arrival, the growing colony wiiiiam 
now numbered over two hundred souls ; and Cornelis Ja-succreds 
cobsen May, who had administered its simple government end Direct- 
during the year 1624, was succeeded by William Verhulst, Nethcr- 
as the second Director of New Netherland. Verhulst's ad- 
ministration, like that of his predecessor, lasted, however, 
only one year ; at the end of which, he returned to Hoi- 1626. 
land. He seems to have visited the South River in per- "^^"^ "' 
son, to examine into the state of affairs there ; and his 
name was for a long time commemorated by " Verhulsten verhuisten 
Island," near the bend of the Delaware at Trenton. Upon tiiexrenton 
this island, which is described as being " near the falls of 
that river, and near the west side thereof," the West India 

* Wassenaar, ix., 40 ; xii., 37 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii., 38, 39, 42. 

+ Wassenaar, ix., 123 ; x., 82 ; xii., 37 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii., 41, 42 ; Benson, 94. De 
Laet, cap. ix., says that the Dutch originally gave what is now known as " Governor's 
Island," opposite the Battery, in Now York harbor, the name of " Nutten Island, because 
excellent nut-trees grew there." 



160 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. V. Compaiiy established a trading house, "where there were 
~T three or four families of Walloons." These families, how- 
waiioons 6ver, did not remain very long in their lonely frontier 

settled Tinmp * 

there. noilie. 

Death of The year 1625 was marked by two important public 
pr^ncefo'f cvents in Europe, which incidentally influenced the affairs 
23 Ap^di. of New Netherland. After thirty years of active military 
service, Maurice, Prince of Orange, the " Fabius of the 
Netherlands," died at the Hague. Equal to the most cel- 
ebrated captains of any age or nation, Maurice appeared to 
far less advantage in his political capacity, as the stadt- 
holder of the United Provinces. Many a deed of glory il- 
lustrates his splendid military career ; but the eye of pos- 
terity will never cease to look with reproach upon that 
darkest spot which blots his checkered escutcheon — the 
Succeeded blood of Oldcu Bamcveldt. Upon the death of Maurice, 

by his ^ ' 

brother, the States G-eneral conferred the vacant offices of captain 

Frederick _ _ ^ ^ 

Henry. and admiral general on his brother, Frederick Henry, who 
succeeded him as Prince of Orange, and who was also, 
soon afterward, created Stadtholder by a majority of the 
provinces. The new prince, who far excelled his brother 
in prudence, moderation, and capacity for government, 
entered upon the administration of afFau's under circum- 
stances which, though discouraging, gave promise of 
brighter days. Religious hostilities were soon restrained 
to the precincts of the consistories ; and the voice of pa- 
triotism, which for awhile had been stifled by the clamor 
of polemical discussion and the vehemence of party strife, 

* Wassenaar, xii., 37, 38 ; xvi., 13'; xviii., 94 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii., 42, 43, 47, 48 
Van der Donck's Map of N. N. ; Deposition of Peter Laurensen, in Deed Book, vii., ana 
in Doc. Hist. N. Y.,iii., 50. Laurensen's deposition was made before Governor Dongan, 
on the 24th of March, 1685. He says that " he came into this Province a servant to tlip 
West India Company, in the year 1628; and in the year lti30 (1031 .'), by order of th« 
West India Company, he, with seven more, were sent in a sloop with hoy saile to Dela 
ware, where the company had a trading house, with ten or twelve servants belonging 
to it, which the deponent himself did see there settled. And he further .saith, that at 
his return from Delaware River, the said vessel stopped at the Horekill, where the depo 
nent did also see a settlement of a brick house, belonging to the West India Company 
And the deponent further saith, that upon an island near the falls of that river, and near 
the west side thereof, the said company, some three or four years afore, had a trading 
house, where there were three or four families of Walloons. The place of their settlement 
he saw ; and that they had been seated there, he was informed by some of the said Wal- 
loons themselves, when they were returned from thence.'" — G. Thomas' W. Jersey, p. 14. 



WILLIAM VERHULST, DIRECTOR. 161 

once more aroused men of all sects and all opinions to chap. v 
unite in defense of their Fatherland.* 



1625 

The death of James I., which happened about a month gT^jarch! 

before that of Maurice, led the government at the Hague Krn"iamcs 
and the directors of the West India Company to hope that ^' 
the hostilities, which had just broken out between En- 
gland and Spain, would be vigorously prosecuted by 
Charles I., and would assist the military operations of the Accession 
republic against the common enemy. They were not dis- 1. 
appointed. In revenge for the failure of the Prince of 
Wales's intended marriage with the Ilifanta, James had 
been hurried into a war with his former ally. Still fur- 
ther to humble her, he had, in 1624, entered into a de- 
fensive alliance, for two years, with the Dutch ; and had 
agreed to allow the States Greneral to levy six thousand 
men within his kingdom, and at his cost, upon condition 
that their expenses should be repaid at the conclusion of 
a peace between the United Provinces and Spain. With- 
in six months after his accession, Charles I. took a still • 
more decided step. He concluded, at Southampton, a J^ scpt. 
treaty with the States Greneral, by which he entered into somhamp- 
an offensive and defensive alliance with the Dutch, to con- tween the 
tinue as long as the King of Spain should prosecute his anl Dutcii. 
designs "against the liberty and rights of the United Prov- 
inces," and occupy the Palatinate with his troops. The 
allies bound themselves to equip fleets for the purpose of 
destroying the Spanish commerce in the East and West 
Indies ; and the treaty expressly stipulated that the ports 
of the two countries should be reciprocally open to the war 
and merchant vessels of both parties.! The king, how- 
ever, accompanied his ratification of the Treaty of South- 
ampton with a protest that it should not prevent his de- 
manding proper satisfaction for the injuries which the 
Dutch were alleged to have done the English at Amboy- 
na, the year before. A few weeks afterward, Charles dis- n October. 
patched the Duke of Buckingham and the Earl of Hol- 

* Davies, ii., 557, 566. 

t Corps. Dip., v., 2, 458, 478 ; Clarendon State Papers, i., 41, 53 ; Aitzema, i., 691, 1226 , 
Lond. Doc., i., 36 ; Hoi. Doc, ix., 292 ; N. Y. Col. MSS., ui., 13. 



162 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. V. land as ambassadors extraordinary to the States Greneral, 

charged with instructions to negotiate a still closer alli- 
1625 

■ ance ; to "remember" the States General "that the only 

fomidation and principal cement of their estate being their 
unity, they must by all means conserve that ;" and to as- 
sure them of the king's sincere desire to interpose, " by 
way of mediation, in all differences within their state," 
and continue in " every office and duty of a good neighbor, 
friend, and ally."* 

These circumstances favorably affected the rising for- 
tunes of New Netherland. Grreat Britain and the United 
Provinces were now allies. The West India Company, 
presuming that the same causes that had induced Charles 
to open his ports to their vessels, and postpone retaliation 
for the alleged barbarities at Amboyna, would prevent his 
interfering with their design to found a stable colony in 
Peter Min- America, immediately commissioned Peter Minuit, of We- 
ceeds ver- scl, to succecd William Verhulst, in the chief command in 
Director Ncw Ncthcrland, as its Director Greneral. Minuit left Am- 
New Neth- stcrdam, accordingly, toward the end of December, in the 
19 Dec. ship " Sea-Mew," Captain Adriaen Joris. The ship sailed 
1626. from the Texel on the ninth of January, 1626, and arrived 
Awf/es at at Manhattan on the fourth of the following May.t 

Manhattan. 

* Rymer Federa, xviii., 77, 209. 

t Wassenaar, xii., 39 ; xvi., 13 ; De Laet, App., 4 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii., 46, 47. 



PETER jMINUIT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 163 



CHAPTER VI. 
1626-1629. 

The College of Nineteen of the West India Company, chap. vi. 
immediately on its organization, intrusted, as we have 
seen, to the Amsterdam Chamher the particular manage- provincial 
ment of its North American Province. Sworn to the ^°g^,^j''^'j. 
double allegiance which the charter required. Director f^l'^^jf^l,^' 
Peter Minuit, on his arrival at Manhattan, commenced Minuu*^"^ 
an administration which was to be a faithful reflection of "* '^''- ■ 
the peculiar commercial policy of his immediate princi- 
pals. Their will, as expressed in instructions, or de- 
clared in ordinances, was to be the supreme law of New 
Netherland : in cases not thus specifically provided for, 
the civil law, and the statutes, edicts, and customs of the 
Fatherland were to be paramount.* 

To assist the director, a council was appointed, which councu. 
was invested with all local, legislative, judicial, and ex- 
ecutive powers, subject to the supervision and appellate 
jurisdiction of the Chamber at Amsterdam. Criminal 
justice was administered by the council to the extent of 
fine and imprisonment, but not to the taking away of life. 
If any person was capitally convicted, " he must be sent, 
with his sentence, to Holland."! Next in authority to 
the director and council was the chief commissary or 
"Koopman," who was the book-keeper of the company's 
affairs, and also acted as Secretary of the Province. Sub- 
ordinate to these was the " Schout,"1: whose responsible schout 

* Moulton, 369. t Wassenaar, xii., 38 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii., 43. 

t According to Grotius, this tenn ia an abbreviation of " Schuld-rechter," a judge of 
crimes. — Grotius, Inleydinge, 12"; Davies, i., 77. 



164 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. VI. officc Combined the double duties of Public Procurator 
and Sheriff. He was not a member of the council, but 
their executive officer ; and, besides his other ordinary 
functions, he was specially charged with the due inspec- 
tion and enforcement of the revenue regulations of the 
Colonial Custom-house. During Minuit's direction of af- 
fairs, his council consisted of Peter Byvelt, Jacob Elbert- 
sen Wissinck, Jan Janssen Brouwer, Simon Dircksen Pos, 
and Reynert Harmenssen. The schout, or sheriff, was 

Provincial Jan Lampo, of Cantelberg. Isaac de Rasieres was book- 
keeper and provincial secretary for about two years, and 
was then succeeded by Jan van Remund. 

Minuit's administration began vigorously. Up to this 
period, the Dutch had possessed Manhattan Island only 
by right of first discovery and occupation. It was now 
determined to superadd a higher title, by purchase from 

Purchase of the aborigines. As soon as Minuit was installed in his 

Manhattan " 

Island from government, he opened negotiations with the savages ; and 

the aborig- ° . O ' 

ines. a mutually satisfactory treaty was promptly concluded, by 
which the entire island of Manhattan, then estimated to 
contain about twenty-two thousand acres of land, was 
ceded by the native proprietors, to the Dutch West India 
Company, " for the value of sixty guilders," or about 
twenty-four dollars of our present currency.* This event, 
one of the most interesting in our colonial annals, as well 
deserves commemoration, as the famous treaty, immortal- 
ized by painters, poets, and historians, which William 
1682. Penn concluded, fifty-six years afterward, under the great 
elm-tree, with the Indians at Shackamaxon. 

A short time after Minuit sailed, another ship, the 

"Arms of Amsterdam," was dispatched from Holland, 

having on board Isaac de Rasieres, a protege of Samuel 

Blommaert, one of the leading directors of the West India 

1626. Company. De Rasieres reached New Nctherland in July, 

^^■'"'^" and immediately entered on his duties as " opper koop- 

* IIol. Doc, i., 155 ; Mr. S. Lawrence's Report to tlio Senate of the Stale of N. Y., 3d 
February, 1844, No. 42, p. 4, 5 ; Mr. G. Folsom's Report to the Senate, 5th May, 1645, 
No. Ill, p. 5, e. 



PETER MINUIT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 165 

man," or chief commissary, and secretary of the province chap. vi. 

under Director Minuit.* As yet, no arrangements had""""" 

1626 
been made for a regular clergyman ; but his place was, 

to a certain extent, supplied by two " Krank-besoeckers," 
or "consolers of the sick," Sebastian Jansen Krol and Jan comforters 
Huyck, whose particular duty it was to read to the peo- 
ple, on Sundays, " some texts out of the Scriptures, to- 
gether with the Creeds."! Francois Molemaecker was also 
employed in building a horse-mill, with a spacious room 
above to serve for a large congregation ; and a tower was 
to be added, in which the Spanish bells captured at Porto 
RicOj the year before, by the West India Company's fleet, 
were intended to be hung.t 

The island of Manhattan having now become, by pur- 
chase, the private property of the West India Company, 
no time was lost in providing for its permanent security. 
A large fort, "with four angles," and to be faced with Fort com- 
solid stone, was staked out by the engineer, Kryn Fred- Manhattan 
erycke, on the southern point of the island. s^ " This 
point," suggested De Rasieres, "might, with little trouble, 
be made a small island, by cutting through Blommaert's 
valley, so as to afford a haven, winter and summer, for 
sloops and ships." Its commanding position was well ap- commaud- 
preciated ; and its future destiny prophesied. "It ought, t'on of the 
from its nature, to be a Royal Fort, so that it could be predated, 
approached by land only on one side ; as it is a triangle 
bounded by the two rivers. Three angles are indicated 
by nature. The most northern is opposite to, and com- 
mands within the range of a cannon shot, the Great Mau- 

* De Rasieres's Letter, in ii. N. Y. H. S. Coll., ii., 343. 

t In the Church of Holland, it is the duty of the " Krank-besoeckers," or " Zieken- 
troosters," to visit and pray with the sick. See also Liturgy of the R. D. Church, part vi. 
The translation of Wassenaar, in Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii., 42, erroneously renders " met de 
gelofsen," "■with the comment.'" The " Geloof really means "the Creed;" which the 
" voorleezers," or clerks, in the churches in Holland, to this day, read from the " Doop- 
huysje," or baptistery, under the pulpit. Until a recent period, this custom was kept up 
in the Reformed Dutch churches in this country. 

X Wa.ssenaar, xii., 38 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii., 42, 43. 

t) Wassenaar, xii., 38 ; xvi., 13 ; Hoi. Doc, ii., 370. Moulton, 367, affirms, that the fort 
" was a mere block-house, surrounded with red-cedar palisades." The circumstance that, 
in 1700 and 1791, several cedar palisades were dug up under the ruins of the old fort, seems 
to be the only authority for this statement. 



166 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. VI. ritius River and the land. The southernmost, on the wa- 
ter level, commands the channel between Nutten Island 
'■ and the fort, together with the Hell-gate ; the third point, 
opposite to Blommaert's valley, commands the low land. 
The middle, which ought to be left as a landmark, is the 
height of a hillock above the surrounding land, and should 
always serve as a Battery, which might command the 
three points, if the streets should be arranged according- 

Housesat ly."* The " Comptoir," or counting-house of the compa- 

Manliattan i ^ c? x 

ny, was kept in a stone building, thatched with reeds. 
Some thirty other "ordinary houses," constructed chiefly 
of the bark of trees, were clustered along the east side of 
the river, " which runs nearly north and south." Each 
colonist had his own house. The director and the koop- 
man and secretary lived together. As soon, however, as 
the fort should be built, it was intended that all the set- 
tlers should betake themselves within its walls, so as to 
be secure from any sudden attack of the savages.t 
The fort In advauce of its completion, the post was named " Fort 
"FortAm- Amsterdam."! While it was in progress of building, an 
event occurred which, though its criminal authors may 
have escaped detection and punishment, was destined to 
cause much of the misery which afterward visited the 
province. A Weckquaesgeek Indian, with his nephew, 
" a small boy," and another savage, came down from the 
abode of their tribe in West Chester, bringing with them 
some beaver-skins to barter with the Dutch at the fort. 
The beaten trail of the savages, coming from the north and 
east to Manhattan, was along the shore of the East River, 
from which, just north of what is now called " Kip's Bay," 
it diverged to the westward, and passed near the swampy 
ground forming the " Kolck," or pond of fresh water, until 
Murder of recently known as the " Collect." When the Indian trad- 
quaesgeek ing-party reached this pond, they were met by three farm- 
the Kolck. servants, in the employ of Commander Minuit, who robbed 

* De Rasieres's Letter, in ii. N. Y. H. S. Coll., ii., 345, 346. 
t Wassenaar, xii., 38 ; xvi., 13 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii., 42, 47. 
t Wassenaar, xvi., 13. 



PETER MINUIT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 167 

the Weckquaesgeek of his peltries, and then murdered chap. vi. 
him. The atrocious deed seems to have remained for a" 



1 fiO^ 

long time unknown to the Dutch authorities ; and its act- ' 

ual perpetrators probably escaped punishment. But the 
young savage, who witnessed his uncle's murder, vowed 
that, when he grew up, " he would revenge himself on the 
Dutch." And, in after years, the duty which Indian jus- 
tice inexorably imposed was awfully executed.* 

Such were the " rude beginnings" of Manhattan. Its 
first settlers brought with them the characteristics of their 
Fatherland. " They were as busy and industrious as in 
Holland." One traded with the natives, southward and 
northward ; another built houses ; a third cultivated the 
land. Each farmer had his homestead upon the compa- 
ny's land, and was also furnished with cows, the milk of 
which was his own profit.t " The island of the Manha- 
tas," wrote De Rasieres to his patron Blommaert, " is full Description 
of trees, and, in the middle, rocky. On the north side, tV by"De ' 
there is good land in two places, where two farmers, each '***^''^® 
with four horses, would have enough to do, without much 
clearing or grubbing at first. The grass is good in the 
forests and valleys ; but when made into hay, it is not so 
nutritious for the cattle as the hay in Holland, in conse- 
quence of its wild state ; yet it annually improves by cul- 
tivation. On the east side there rises a large level field, 
of about one hundred and sixty acres, through which runs 
a very fine fresh stream ;$ so that that land can be plow- 
ed without much clearing. It appears to be good. The 
six farms, four of which lie along the River Hell-gate, 
stretching to the south side of the island, have at least 
one hundred and twenty acres ready to be sown with 

* De Vries's Voyages, 164 ; Journal van N. N., Hoi. Doc., iii., 105 ; v., 314. The " Versch 
Water," or Fresh Water, mentioned by De Vries as the scene of this murder, was the large 
pond formerly about midway between Broadway and Chatham Street, known as " het 
Kolck," or "the Pond." From this Kolck a stream, over which there was a bridge, near 
the corner of Chatham and Roosevelt Streets, flowed into the East River. The " Kolck" 
was afterward Anglicized into " Collect ;" and Judge Renson afiirms that, as it collected 
the waters from the adjacent high grounds, " an etymologist not long since chose to im- 
agine the true original name to have been an English one."— Memoir, <fcc., p. 83. 

t Wassenaar, xii., 38 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii., 43. 

t The Kolck. 



168 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap VI. winter seed, which, at the most, may have been plowed 

eio^ht times."^ 
Affairs at While cvery thing was thus thriving at Manhattan, the 
Orange, settlers at Fort Orange, who, independently of ten or 
twelve sailors in the company's service, forming the gar- 
rison, now numbered eight families, were quietly pursu- 
ing their farming operations, and maintaining the most 
friendly relations with the neighboring savages. This was 
the most northern point at which the Hollanders had trad- 
ed ; and Commissary Krieckebeeck, who had now been 
for three years in command of the post, had hitherto giv- 
en general satisfaction, both to the colonists and the na- 
tives. The superintendence of the fur trade, however, aft- 
er Eelkens's supersedure, was conducted by Peter Barent- 
sen, who, from time to time, went up the river, and along 
the coasts to the eastward, visiting all the neighboring wa- 
ters in his shallops, and bringing back large cargoes to 
Manhattan. Barentsen soon became very popular among 
the various savage tribes to the north and east, from the 
Mohawks and Mahicans to the Wapenoos around Narra- 
gansett Bay, and "traded with them for peltries in great 
friendship." The chief of the Sequins, inhabiting the val- 
ley of the Connecticut, and " to whom all the clans of the 
north coast were tributary," whom Eelkens had treach- 
erously imprisoned on board his yacht in 1622, for a long 
time would have no intercourse with the Dutch. Barent- 
sen at length succeeded in making a treaty with the chief; 
who, however, " would trust no one but him."t 

An event now occurred which affected very materially 
the prosperity of the settlement at Fort Orange. The 
stockaded village of the Mahicans was situated on the east 
side of the river, nearly opposite the Dutch fort ; and a 
constant intercourse was kept up between the two parties. 
Since the Treaty at Tawasentha, the Mohawks and Ma- 
hicans had lived in harmony with each other, and with 

* De Rasieres'a Letter, in ii. N. Y. H. S. Coll., ii., 345. The name of" Hell-gate," which 
is now confined to the whirlpool near Ilallett's Cove, was, as has been stated {ante, p. 56, 
note), applied by the Dutch to the East River generally. 

t Wassenaar, xii., 39 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii., 45. 



PETER MINUIT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 169 

the Dutch settlers, who had continued to observe a strict CHAr. vi. 
neutrality. Peace, however, was now interrupted ; and a 
war party of the Mahicans crossing the river, asked the commami- 
Dutch commander to join them, with six of his men, on a beeck'at-''*^ 
hostile expedition against the Mohawks. Krieckebeeck ^oj^awks. 
inconsiderately assenting, accompanied them a few miles 
into the interior from Fort Orange, where they met the 
Mohawks, " who fell upon them so vigorously with a dis- 
charge of arrows," that the whole party was put to flight, 
and many of them killed. Among the slain were Kriecke- is siam. 
beeck and three of his men, one of whom, Tymen Bou- 
wensen, " was eaten by the savages after he had been well 
roasted." The bodies of the commander and his other 
two men were buried side by side. Three of the party, 
two of whom were Portuguese, and one a Hollander from 
Hoorn, escaped. One of the Portuguese was hit in the 
back by an arrow as he was swimming for his life.* A 
leg and an arm of the slain were carried home by the vic- 
torious Mohawks, to be distributed among their wigwams, 
" as a proof that they had overcome their adversaries." 

A few days after this occurrence, Peter Barentsen ar- 
rived at Fort Orange in his trading shallop. The Mo- 
hawks immediately justified their conduct. " We have 
done nothing," said the red men, " against the whites — 
why did they meddle with us ? Had it been otherwise, 
this would not have happened from us."t 

As there was now no commander at Fort Orange, Di- Barentsen 
rector Minuit ordered Barentsen to take charge of the post, in his place 
After a short time, having succeeded in placing affairs 
there once more upon a good footing with the Mohawks, 
he was relieved by Sebastian Jansen Krol, one of the "con- succeeded 
solers of the sick" at Manhattan ; who, for several years, 
continued in command of Fort Orange, as the company's 
commissary and " vice-director." Soon afterward, Barent- 23 sept. 
sen embarked for Holland, in the "Arms of Amsterdam," returns to 
Captam Adriaen Joris, in charge of a very valuable cargo 

* The Mohawks do not appear to have been, as yet, provided with fire-arms, 
t Wassenaar, xii., 38 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii., 43, 44. 



170 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. VI. of furs and ship timber ; and brought to the Amsterdam 
Chamber the interesting intelligence of the purchase of 
Manhattan Island, and of the diligence and prosperity of 
the colonists there, "whose wives had borne them chil- 
dren."* 

The tragical result of Krieckebeeck's inconsiderate con- 
duct interrupted for a time the' progress of colonization at 
Fort Orange. Minuit, distrustful of the safety of the set- 

Coionists tiers there, who were so far off from the succor of their 

removed 

from Fort countrvmeu, now directed the eight families to remove, 

Orange to "^ ° 

Manhattan, during the coursc of the year, down the river to Manhat- 
tan. A garrison of sixteen men only, " without any wom- 
en," was left at Fort Orange, under the command of Krol, 
who was assisted by Dirck Cornelissen Duyster, as under 
commissary. 

verhuisten At the Same time, the Walloons at " Verhulsten Island," 

Island and ^ n i t\ • i i • i 

Fort Nas- ou the South Rivcr. seem to have returned from their lone- 

sau desert- ' 

edbythe ly post, to Manhattan and Lone; Island. Fort Nassau was 

Dutch. J r ^ o 

also evacuated by its small garrison, which was transfer- 
red to Manhattan ; and, for the sake of economy, a single 
yacht only was employed in trading in that region. At 
this early period, the intermediate regions between Man- 
hattan and the South River were very little known to the 
colonists. The Indian tribes of New Jersey were in a state 
of constant enmity, and the inland passage "was seldom 
made." When the Dutch had occasion to send letters 
overland, they were dispatched "across the bay," and car- 
ried forward from tribe to tribe, by different runners, un- 
less " one among them might happen to be on friendly 
terms, and might venture to go there." The chief motive 
for these arrangements was to concentrate as many house- 
holders as possible at the chief colony on Manhattan, where 
the natives were "becoming more and more accustomed 
to the presence of foreigners. "t 

The puri- The Puritau Pilgrims had, meanwhile, been quietly set- 
tans at New ' 1 «/ 
Plymouth, tied for five years at New Plymouth. During this period, 

* IIol. Doc , i., 155 ; Wassenaar, xii., 39. 

t Wassenaar, xii., .38 ; xvi., 13 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii., 50 ; De Rasieres's Letter, in ii., 
N. Y. H. S Coll., ii., 344, 345 ; ante, page 160, note. 



PETER MINUIT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 171 

their attention had been chiefly confined to the domestic chjip. vi. 
concerns of their colony ; and so little were they, at first, 
aware of the geography of the country directly around 
them, that, relying upon the vague reports of the Indians, 
they supposed New England to be an island.* With Mas- 
sasoit, the sachem of the Wapanoos, or Wampanoags, 
around Narragansctt Bay, they had early concluded a 
treaty of friendship. In the spring of 1623, intelligence 1623. 
reac)ied New Plymouth that a Dutch ship had been driven '^"*''*' 
ashore by stress of weather in Narragansett Bay, near the 
residence of Massasoit, who was, at the same time, re- 
ported to be dangerously ill. Governor Bradford accord- 
ingly determined to send "some acceptable persons" to 
visit the sachem, as well as " to have some conference with 
the Dutch, not knowing when we should have so fit an 
opportunity." Edward Winslow, who had formerly been 
in Holland, and understood, " in some measure, the Dutch 
tongue," was therefore selected for the service. But the 
Dutch ship had, meanwhile, got afloat, and sailed away 
about two o'clock of the day that Winslow reached the 
Narragansett Bay; "so that, in that respect," his journey 
" was frustrate."t 

From their priority in discovery and their commercial commer- 
superiority, the Dutch had hitherto enioyed decided ad-norityof 

T-.-1 ■ *i 11 1 ,- the Dutch 

vantages over the rilgnms. Almost ail the fur trade in at Manhat- 

tan. 

the neighborhood of Narragansett and Buzzard's Bays was 
monopolized by the enterprising schippers from Manhat- 
tan. This the Pilgrims felt, and grieved ; and one of 
Bradford's chief motives in hurrying Winslow off to Mas- 
sasoit's country, was to endeavor to dissuade the Dutch 
from interfering with a trade in which they so greatly 
overmatched the Plymouth colonists. These enterprising 
rivals of the Puritans supplied the Indian tribes with the 
various fabrics imported from Holland, and obtained in 
return the furs, corn, and venison of the savages. Wlien 
a circulating medium was required, the Indians, reject- 
ing the coins of Europe, with which they were unac- 

* Winslow, in Young, 371. t Ibid., 313, 317. 



172 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



Chap. VI 

1626. 

Sewan or 
wampum. 



Its value 
and uses. 



Long Isl- 
and its 
chief man- 
ufactory. 



quainted, substituted their own aboriginal money, which 
they called Seioan. Of this there were two kinds ; Wam- 
pum^ or white beads, made of the stem of the periwinkle, 
and Suckauhock, or black beads, made of a part of the 
inside of the clam-shell. The black beads were the gold 
of the Indians — of double the value of the white ; but 
either were of more esteem with the red men than the 
coinage of Europe. The ascertained value of Sewan, or, 
as it was usually called by the English, Wampum, ren- 
dered it the most convenient medium of trade, not only 
between the European and the savage, but between the 
various tribes of Indians themselves. It was not only 
their money, but their jewelry. Universal in its use 
and unquestioned in its value, it ornamented their per- 
sons, distinguished the rich from the poor, paid ransoms, 
satisfied tribute, sealed contracts, atoned for injuries. In 
the form of a belt, it entered largely into the ceremonial 
of Indian diplomacy ; and it recorded the various public 
transactions of the tribes.*" The chief manufacturers of 
this aboriginal currency were the Indians of Long Island, 
or " Sewan-hacky ;" and the primitive colonial mint which 
the Dutch at Manhattan thus early possessed, almost at 
their very doors, gave them an immense advantage in 
their trade with the neighboring savages.t Of this they 
had not failed to avail themselves. Their sloops contin- 
ually visited the Narragansett, and penetrated the adja- 
cent rivers. From the Indians with whom they traded, 
the New Netherland settlers had often heard of the Pil- 
grims nestled at New Plymouth ; but, hitherto, they had 
not met. 

The native courtesy of the Dutch colonists now prompt- 



* Moulton, 376, 377 ; Mass. Hist. Coll., i., 152 ; iii., 231. 

t " Sewan-hacky," the name frequently applied by the Dutch to Long Island, was com- 
pounded from " Sewan," and the Delaware word " hacky," or " hackins." " the land." — 
Moulton, 342. " The Mohawks, the Pequods, and other powerful tribes, made frequent 
wars upon the Long Island Indians, and compelled them to pay tribute in this almost uni- 
versal article of trade and commerce. The immense quantity that was manufactured ac- 
count.*! for the fact that, in tlie most extensive shell-banks left by the Indians, it is rare to 
find a whole slicll, all having been broken in the process of making wampum. And it is 
not unlikely that many of the largest heaps of shells still existing are the remains of a 
wampum manufactory."— Thompson's Long Island, i., 87 ; ante, p. 373. 



PETER MINUIT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 173 

ed them to open a friendly correspondence with the for- chap.vi. 
mer quests of their Fatherland. De Rasieres, the secre- "~~ 
tary of New Netherland, by Director Minuit's order, ac- g ^j,^'^,, ' 
cordingly drew up a letter, dated at " Manhattas, in Fort JJ^^^''^^^ 
Amsterdam," which, with a counterpart in French, "writ- ent^''^'!;,, 
ten in a very fair hand," was dispatched to Bradford, the tl,^';^^"'"'' 
Governor of New Plymouth. This was the first commu- 
nication between the Pilgrims and their Dutch neighbors, 
" of whom," said Bradford, " we had heard much by the 
natives, but never could hear from them or meet with 
them, before they themselves thus wrote to us, and after 
sought us out." The New Netherland authorities con- 
gratulated the G-overnor of New Plymouth on the pros- 
perous condition of his people ; proffered good- will and 
reciprocity ; alluded to the propinquity and long-contin- 
ued friendship of their native countries ; and inviting 
friendly commercial relations, offered to accommodate 
their English neighbors with any commodities or mer- 
chandise they might want.* 

The G-overnor of New Plymouth at once answered the Bradford 

. . replies. 

friendly overture from Manhattan ; and, unwilling to be ^ Marou. 
outdone in courtesy, translated his reply into the Dutch 
language. Deprecating the " over high titles" which Ba- 
tavian politeness required, and which Puritan usage re- 
jected, Bradford reciprocated the friendly greetings of his 
neighbors in New Netherland, and congratulated them 
upon the recent alliance of their native countries against 
their " common enemy the Spaniards." This of itself 
was enough to unite the two colonies together " in love 
and good neighborhood ;" " yet," he added, "are many of 
us further tied by the good and courteous entreaty which 
we have found in your country, having lived there many 
years with freedom and good content, as many of our 
friends do to this day ; for which we are bound to be 
thankful, and our children after us, and shall never forget 
the same." The Plymouth colony being, for this year, 

♦ Morton's Memorial, 133 ; Prince ; Bradford's Letter Book, in Mass. Hist. Coll., iii., 
51 ; and ii., N. Y. H. S. Coll., i., 355, 360. 



174 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



1627. 



Chap. VI. " fuUj Supplied with all necessaries," Bradford suggested 
that, at some future occasion, they might, perhaps, have 
dealings with their Holland neighbors, if their " rates he 
reasonable." At the same time, his English loyalty 
prompted him to question the right of the Dutch "to trade 
or plant" within the limits of New England, "which ex- 
tend to forty degrees." Yet the Plymouth colonists, de- 
sirous to continue " good neighborhood and correspond- 
ence" with the Dutch, would not "go about to molest or 
Asks the troublc" them in any thing, if only they would " forbear 
forbear to trade with the natives in this Bay and River of Narra- 
Narragan- gausctt and Sowamcs, which is, as it were, at our doors."* 
The claim of English supremacy over New Netherland, 
which the Grovernor of the New Plymouth colony thus set 
up, could not be admitted by the authorities at Fort Am- 
May. sterdam. A few weeks afterward, Director Minuit ac- 
cordingly dispatched a letter to Bradford, which, though 
expressed in very friendly terms, firmly maintained the 
Minuit " right and liberty" of the Dutch to trade with the Nar- 

maintains ° iiiir -ij^ 

therigiitof raffansetts, as they had done, lor many years, without 

the Dutch. ° . . ^ . . , t-, i • i " i • i 

question or interruption. "As the English claim author- 
ity under the King of England, so we," said Minuit, "de- 
rive ours from the States of Holland, and will defend it."t 
Bradford Thinking that this correspondence of the Plymouth col- 
iesofthe ouists with the Dutch would give their enemies at home 
encetoEn- " occasiou to raise slanders and frame accusations" against 
them, Bradford took care to send copies of De Rasieres's 
" first letter, with our answer thereto, and their reply to 
if June, the same," to the Council of New England. He wrote, at 
the same time, another letter to Sir Ferdinando Gorges, 
and intrusted his dispatches to the care of Isaac Allerton, 
who was now sent out a second time to London, as agent 

* Bradford's Letter Book ; Moulton, 379; ii. N. Y. H. S. Coll., i., 360, 3fil. 

t ii., N. Y. n. S. Coll., i., 362. Bradford, in his Letter Book, does not give the second 
letter from the Dutch in full, nor even their third letter, of the 7th of August, by the hands 
of Jan Jacobsen. The tenor of the two is, however, gathered from Bradford's reply to 
both, of the 14th (24th) August. The second Dutch letter must have been written aboul 
May, for Bradford, along with his letter to the Council of New England, of 15th (25th) 
June, sent copies " of their first letters, of our answer, and of their reply," to which he 
adds, he had " as yet no opportunity to give answer."— Mass. Hist. Coll., iii., 56 ; ii., N. 
Y. H. S. Coll., i., 365, 366. 



PETER MINUIT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 175 

for the colony. In his letters to England, Bradford stated chap. vi. 
that the Dutch, "for strength of men and fortification, far 
exceed us, and all in this land." " They have used trad- 
ing here," he added, "this six or seven and twenty years, 
but have begun to plant of later time ; and now have re- 
duced their trade to some order, and confined it only to 
their company, which heretofore was spoiled by their sea- 
men and interlopers, as ours is, tliis year, most notorious- 
ly." And, besides spoiling their trade, the. Dutch still con- 
tinued " to truck pieces, powder, and shot," with the In- 
dians, " which will be the overthrow of all, if it be not 
looked into."* 

Meanwhile, no answer was returned to the last commu- 
nication from Fort Amsterdam. Minuit, after waiting 
three months longer, accordingly dispatched Jan Jacob- 7 August, 
sen, of Wiringen, the captain of the ship " Three Kings," sends a 
which then happened to be in port, as a special messen- witii pres- 
ger, with another letter, reiteratmg the most friendly sen- Bradford, 
timents, and inviting the English to send an authorized 
agent to Manhattan, to confer " by word of mouth touch- 
ing our mutual commerce and trading ;" or, if that should 
be inconvenient, offering " to depute one" themselves. At 
the same time, in token of their good-will, the Dutch au- 
thorities sent " a rundlet of sugar and two Holland cheeses," 
as a present to the governor of New Plymouth. 

The Dutch messenger was kindly received, and hand- 
somely entertained by Bradford ; and, a few days after- 
ward, brought back to the authorities at Fort Amsterdam ^f August. 
the reply of the Puritans to their two last letters. Ac- 
knowledging their acceptable presents, and reciprocating 
their expressions of friendship, Bradford requested that the The Puri- 

-rv 1 1 1 1 1 ■ • -ivT -r.1 tans ask the 

Dutch would delegate a commissioner to New Plymouth, Dutch to 

1 ii'icf T -iiiri 1 send a dcl- 

and excused himself from sending one to Manhattan, be- esate to 

• 1 1 1 1 1 NewPlym- 

cause "one of our boats is abroad, and we have much bus- outh. 
iness at home." "With friendly zeal, he added a warning 
to his neighbors against " those of Virginia, or the fishing 
ships which come to New England," which might make 

* Bradford's Letter Book, Mass. Hist. Coll., iu., 48, 49, 56, 57. 



176 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. VI. prize of them, " as they surprised a colony of the French 
~~ not many years since, which was seated within these 
■ bounds." And against the Dutch claim of rights, by rea- 
son of their early and long-continued trade, and the charter 
from their government, Bradford, pleading prior English 
title, under Elizabeth's grant of Virginia, and James's 
sweeping patents, suggested that the States G-eneral 
should come to some "agreement with the king's majesty 
and state of England hereabout, before any inconvenience 
befall ; for howsoever you may be assured for ourselves, 
yet we should be sorry to hear you should sustain harm 
from any of our nation."* 

Minuit, on receiving the report of the "kind and friend- 
ly entertainment" with which Bradford had treated his 
messenger, determined to send a formal embassy to New 
Plymouth, conformably to the governor's request. Isaac de 
Isaac de Rasicrcs, thc Secretary of the Province, and second in rank 
dispatched to thc Dlrcctor, was selected as the first ambassador of New 
bassytotheNetherland. He was "a man of fair and genteel behav- 

Puritans. . inr-i •• ii 

lor," and well fitted for a mission, which was of as much 
relative importance, in the primitive days of the Dutch 
and English colonies, as the more stately embassies of Eu- 
rope. Freighting the " barque Nassau" with a few arti- 
cles for traific, and manning her with a retinue of soldiers 
sepiemher. and trumpcters, De Rasieres set out from Manhattan, late 
in September ; and, sailing through Hell-gate, and along 
the shores of Connecticut and Rhode Island, arrived, early 
the next month, off " Frenchman's Point,! at a small riv- 
er, where those of Patuxet (New Plymouth) have a house 
made of hewn oak planks, called Aptuxet ; where they 
keep two men winter and summer, in order to maintain 
Arrives at the trade and possession."! This was Manomet, near an 
on Bu7.- ' Indian vDlage, at the head of Buzzard's Bay — ^the site of 
the present village of Monumet, in the town of Sandwich.^ 
Hither the Dutch and French had " both used to come" 
to traffic with the natives. It was about eight miles from 

* Bradford's Letter Book, Mass. Hist. Coll., iii., 53 ; ii., N. Y. H. S. Coll., i., 362, 363. 
t Morton'.s Memorial, 61. | De Rasieres's Letter, ii., N. Y. H. S Coll., ii., 350. 

I) ii., N. Y. II. S. Coll., i., 358. 



I 



PETER MINUIT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 177 

Cape Cod Bay, into which flowed a creek, affording a ready chap. vi. 

channel of communication across the peninsula.* "For 

1627 
greater convenience of trade," says Bradford, " to discharge ' 

our engagements, and maintain ourselves, we build a small 
pinnace at Manomet, a place on the sea, twenty miles toManomet, 
the south ; to which, by another creek on this side, we m-wn 
transport our goods by water within four or five miles, 
and then carry them overland to the vessel. We thereby 
avoid compassing Cape Cod, with those dangerous shoals, 
and make our voyage to the southward with far less time 
and hazard. For the safety of our vessel and goods, we 
there also build a house, and keep some servants, who plant 
corn, rear swine, and are always ready to go out with the 
bark, which takes good effect, and turns to advantage."! 
The Dutch trumpets awoke unusual echoes, as they 
saluted the advanced post of the English colony. De Ra- 
sieres at once dispatched a courier with a letter to Brad- 4 October. 
ford, announcing his arrival on the part of the director and 
council of New Netherland, to have a friendly conference 
" by word of mouth of things together," and to assure him 
of the " good- will and favor" of the Dutch West India 
Company. Specifying the articles which composed the 
Nassau's cargo, he requested Bradford to furnish him with 
the easiest conveyance to New Plymouth. " John Jacob- 
sen aforesaid hath told me," wTote the Dutch envoy, "that 
he came to you overland in six hours ; but I have not gone 
so far this three or four years, wherefore I fear my feet 
will fail me." Bradford prornptly complied, and sent a 
boat to the head of the Manonscussett Creek. A short 
portage of five miles divided its waters from those of the De r.i- 
Manomet River. Crossing this portage, De Rasieres, with readies 
" the chief of his company," embarked in the English boat, outt. 

* Winslow's relation, in Younsf's Clironioles, 30fi. Prince, 208 (writing in IT-Sfi), says, 
•' this creek runs out easterly into Cape Cod Bay, at Scussett Harbor ; and this river runs 
out westerly into Monumet l!ay. The distance overland, from bay to bay, is but six miles. 
The creek and river nearly meet in a low ground ; and this is the place through which 
there has been a talk of making a canal this forty years, which would be a vast advantage 
to all tliese countries, by saving the long and dangerous navigation round the Cape, and 
through the shoals adjoining." 

t Bradford, in Prince, 244 ; Old Colony Records ; Book of Court Orders, vol. iii., p. 82. 
See also Mr. W. S. Russell's " Pilgrim Memorials," p. 122-121. 

M 



178 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. VI. which awaited him at the head of the creek ; and soon 
reached New Plymouth, "honorably attended with the 
noise of trumpeters."*" 
DeRa- Here Bradford entertained the Dutch ambassador sev- 

New piym- eral days. The friendly colonists of two allied European 
nations now met, for the first time, in the solitudes of 
America, That first meeting, too, was "the joyful meet- 
ing of kindred as well as friends ; for the wives and chil- 
dred of some of the Pilgrims had also their birth-place in 
Holland."! 
Observes Thc English colonists' form of government ; their an- 
tions. nual elections ; their abolition of primogeniture, with only 
a small difference in favor of the eldest son, as an " ac- 
knowledgment for his seniority of birth ;" their stringent 
laws on the subject of morality, which they even enforced 
among the neighboring Indian tribes ; the example which 
they set to those savages, of " better ordinances and a bet- 
ter life," were noted with interest by the envoy of New 
Netherland. " They have better means of living than 
ourselves," wrote De Rasieres, " because they have the 
fish so abundant before their doors ;" but then " their 
farms are not so good as ours, because they are more 
stony." With these fish they manured their barren soil, 
which otherwise would produce no maize. Quaintly, but 
graphically, the representative of Manhattan described the 
Describes rival Settlement. "New Plymouth lies on the slope of a 

ihe settle- 

ment. hill, strctcliing east toward the sea-coast, with a broad 
street about a caimon-shot of eight hundred [paces ?] long 
leading down the hill, and with [another street] crossing 
in the middle, northward to the rivulet and southward to 
the land. The houses are constructed of hewn planks, 
with gardens also inclosed behind and at the sides with 
hewn timber ; so that their houses and court-yards are ar- 
ranged in very good order, with a stockade against a sud- 
den attack. At the ends of the streets are three wooden 
gates. In the centre, on the cross street, stands the govern- 
or's house ; before which is a square inclosure, upon which 

* Bradford, in Prince, 348; ii., N. Y. U. S. Coll., i., 364. t Moulton, 384. 



PETER MINUIT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 179 

four swivels are mounted, so as to flank along the streets, chap. vi. 
Upon the hill they have a large square house v^^ith a flat roof, 
made of thick sawn plank, stayed with oak beams ; upon 
the top of which they have six cannon, which shoot iron 
balls of four and five pounds weight, and command the sur- 
rounding country. The lower part they use for their church, 
where they preach on Sundays and the usual holidays. 
They assemble by beat of drum, each with his musket or 
firelock, in front of the captain's door. They have their 
cloaks on, and place themselves in order, three abreast, and 
are led by a sergeant, without beat of drum. Behind comes 
the governor in a long robe. Beside him, on the right hand, 
comes the preacher, with his cloak on ; and on the left hand 
the captain, with his side-arms and his cloak on, and with 
a small cane in his hand. And so they march in good or- 
der, and each sets his arms down near him. Thus they 
are constantly on their guard night and day."* 

Having " demeaned himself to his own credit" and De Ra- 

sic res rc~ 

that of his government, De Rasieres pledsred to the Plym- turns to 

1 , . . . 1 V« 1 • /- 1 Manomet. 

outh colonists "assistance against the l^rench, if need 
were," and returned to his bark at Manomet, accompa- 
nied by an escort of the Puritans. And now they readily The Pun- 
purchased some of his wares, especially the Sewan orchastF""^ 
Wampum, "which was the beginning of a profitable Dutch" 
trade." The Dutch naturally desired to retain the con- 
trol of the wampum traffic in the Narragansett, because 
" the seeking after Sewan" by the Puritans, said De Ra- 
sieres, " is prejudicial to us, inasmuch as they would, by 
so doing, discover the trade in furs, which, if they were 
to find out, it would be a great trouble for us to main- 
tain ; for they already dare to threaten that, if we will 
not leave off" dealing with that people, they will be obliged 
to use other means." The chief supply of this universal- 
ly current Indian coin came, as we have seen, from Long 

* De Rasieres's Letter, 351, 352. The accuracy of De Rasieres's account is confirmed 
hy Morton in his Memorial, p. 82. Mr. W. S. Russell, in his "Pilgrim Memorials," p. 
28, says that Lcyden Street at Plymouth was originally named First Street, and after- 
ward Great and Broad Street ; and that it received its present name in 1823, in gratcl"ul 
memory of the kindness and hospitality shown to the Pilgrims during their eleven years' 
residence in Leyden. 



IgO HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. VI. Island ; and De Rasieres now sold a large quantity to the 
; English, " telling us," says Bradford, " how vendible it is 
'^ ' at their Fort Orange, and persuading us we shall find it 
so at Kennebeck." Nor were the Puritans disappointed. 
As soon as the neighboring Indians learned that the Plym- 
outh colonists had a supply of wampum, a great demand 
sprung up, which, for a long time, yielded them large 
profits. " The Massachusetts and others in these parts 
had scarce any, it being made and kept among the Pe- 
quots and Narragansetts, who grew rich and potent by it ; 
whereas the rest, who use it not, are poor and beggarly."* 
Mutual Thus, when the whole tonnage of New England con- 

lishedat sisted of "a bass-boat, shallop, and pinnace," a mutually 
advantageous trade sprung up between the neighboring 
European colonists. "After which beginning," says Brad- 
ford, " they often send to the same place, and we trade 
together divers years, sell much tobacco for linens and 
stuffs, &c., which proves a great benefit to us, till the 
Virginia'ns find out their colony."t 
-j-Yoct. On his return to Manhattan, De Rasieres carried with 

fepHes'^u) him a letter from Bradford to Minuit, in which, saving al- 
urges'the" ways their allegiance to the King of Grreat Britain, he 
rieur their pledged the Pilgrims to the performance of all good offices 
New* Neth- toward the Dutch colonists in New Netherland. "We 
acknowledge ourselves tied," wrote the Puritan governor, 
" in a strict obligation unto your country and state, for 
the good entertainment and free liberty which we had, 
and our brethren and countrymen yet there, have and do 
enjoy, under our most honorable Lords the States." With 
respect to the question of trade and supplies, he expressed 
his regret that it had not been " propounded at the begin- 
ning of the year," before Allerton had gone as agent to 
England and Holland, until whose return a positive de- 
termination must be postponed. But, in the mean time, 
he reiterated the desire of the Puritans that the Dutch 
should " clear the title" of their planting " in these parts 

* Bradford's Letter Book, 364 ; Prince, 248, 249 : De Rasieres's Letter, 350. 
t Bradford, ut sup,, 304 ; Prince, 248. 



PETER MINUIT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 181 

whicli His Majesty hath, by patent, granted to divers his chap. vi. 
nobles and subjects of quality; lest it be a bone of divi- 
sion in these stirring evil times, which God forbid. We per- 
suade ourselves, that now may be easily and seasonably 
done, which will be harder and with more difficulty ob- 
tained hereafter, and perhaps not without blows."* 

Thus earnestly did Bradford maintain the English title to spirit of 
New Nctherland, and urge the Dutch to "clear" their own. claim. 
A royal charter, of doubtful validity, was the alleged apol- 
ogy for calling in question those territorial rights which, 
while in Holland, the Puritans had themselves distinct- 
ly admitted, when, in 1620, they solicited the States Gren- 
eral "to ])roteot and defend them" in their proposed set- 
tlement within the Dutch Province. But now they found 
it convenient to insist upon the paramount authority of 
a patent which had been denounced from the speaker's 
chair by the highest legal authority, as a monopoly, con- 
taining " many particulars contrary to the laws and priv- 
ileges of the subjects,"! and which was not sealed until 
nearly a year after the application to the States Greneral, 
by which they had virtually affirmed the Dutch title to 
the fullest extent. 

Under these circumstances, the director and council at .Minuit ' 
Fort Amsterdam felt obliged to call the attention of the iioiiand lor 
West India Company, as soon as possible, to the somewhat diers. 
threatening aspect which the subject had assumed. " The 
last ship from New Nctherland brings tidings," reported le Nov. 
the College of XIX. to the States General, in November, 
" that our settlers there were menaced by the English at 
New Plymouth, who (notwithstanding the people of this 
land had some years ago commended themselves to those 
very English in all good correspondence and friendship) 
now wish to hunt them out, or disturb them in their quiet 
possession and infant colony. They, therefore, ask the as- 
sistance of forty soldiers for their defense. "t 

But if Bradford was pertinacious in urging the parch- 

* Bradford, ut sup., 305. t Sir Edward Coke ; see ante, p. 139. 

t Hoi. Doc, i., 159, 160; O'Call., i., 109. 



182 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. VI. meiit claims of England, King Charles himself was, ap- 
~~~ parently, more considerate. A month before De Rasieres 
5 g^ ^ ■ visited New Plymouth, an order in council, formally re- 
Charies I. citing the terms of the treaty signed at Southampton in 

favors the ° J o I 

Dutch W.I. 1625, declared that the ships of the West India Company 

Company. i i i , p i i •' 

should have free access to and egress from all English 
ports ; and commanded all English officers to treat the of- 
ficers of the company "with that respect and courtesy as 
is fitting to be used toward the subjects of a state with 
whom his majesty is in firm and ancient amity."* Con- 
tenting themselves with the liberal provisions of an order, 
which, by throwing open to them all the English ports, 
and protecting their vessels from seizure by British cruis- 
ers, virtually recognized their trade to New Netherland, 
the West India Company seemed to think it unnecessary 
to take any immediate steps to settle the question of title. 
1632. A few years later, when the question was distinctly pre- 
sented, they vindicated their title with ability and success. 
At present, the quiet advancement of their colony in New 
Netherland, and the regular prosecution of trade, was the 
company's policy. The value of that trade had doubled 
during the four years succeeding the first permanent col- 
onization under May. In 1624, the exports from Amster- 
dam, in two ships, were worth upward of twenty-five 
thousand guilders, and the returns from New Netherland, 
Increasing twenty-scven thousand guilders. In 1627, the value of 
livenue' thc goods which the Amsterdam Chamber exported, in four 
Neihtr- sliips, had risen to fifty-six thousand guilders, and that of 
the peltries received from New Netherland had increased 
to the same sum.t 
1628. The prosperity of the growing colony steadily increased. 
19 August. In the autumn of the next year, Director Minuit dispatch- 
ed from Manhattan two ships, the "Arms of Amsterdam," 
Captain Adriaen Joris, and the " Three Kings," Captain 
Jan Jacobsen, of Weiringen, with cargoes of ship timber 
and furs for the West India Company, the aggregate 

♦ Lend. Doc, i., 36 ; Hoi. Doc, ix., 292 ; N. Y. Col. MSS., iii., 12, 13. 
t De Laet, Jaerlyck Verhael, Appendix, p. 26, 29. 



PETER MINUIT, DIRECTOR GENERAL 183 

value of which exceeded sixty-one thousand guilders.* chap. vi. 

Strengthened by the addition of the settlers who had for- 

1 628 
merly resided near Fort Orange, and by the garrison of the 

deserted Fort Nassau, on the South River, the colony at 

Manhattan now numbered two hundred and seventy souls, Population 

including men, women, and children. Fearless of the In- tan. 

dians, with whom they now lived in happy peace, these 

families all continued to reside outside the walls of Fort Fort Am- 

Amsterdam, which was now completed, with four bastions, completed. 

and a facing of stone. 

At Fort Orange there were now "no families;" thev ■'^^'•■s »' 

° ' •' Fort Or- 

had all been brought down to Manhattan. That post it- anse. 
^^If was occupied by only twenty -five or twenty-six trad- 
ers, under the vice-director, Sebastian Jansen Krol, who 
had succeeded to the command two years before, when 
Barentsen returned to Holland. In the spring of 1628, 
hostilities broke out between the Mahicans, near Fort Or- 
ange, and the Mohawks ; but the latter killed and cap- The mo- 

^ hawks 

tured most of the Mahicans, and expelled the remnant, '•"vo the 

Mahicans 

who settled themselves toward the north, near the " Fresh," off'" the 

' valley of 

or Connecticut River, where they began to cultivate the '^e con- 

^ necticut. 

ground ; " and thus there was now an end of war in that 
region." 

By order of the West India Company, "all those who 
were at the South River," at Verhulsten Island, and Fort 
Nassau, were likewise removed to Manhattan. A small Trade on 

11 J • 1 1 i 1 1 /• the South 

vessel only was retamed there, to keep up the fur trade. River. 
That trade, however, was less profitable than the traffic on 
the North River. The factors found that the inland sav- 
ages, who came down to tide-water, would not barter the 
"lion skins with which they were clothed," because they 
were " much warmer than other furs." 

The colonists at Manhattan subsisted chiefly by their 
farming, the deficiency in their crops being made up by 
supplies from the West India Company. Their winter prosperity 
corn had turned out very well ; while the summer grain, nists^a^**** 

I • J 1 • 1 T j^i • 1 I Manhattan. 

bemg prematurely ripened by the excessive heats, was 

* Wassenaar, xvi., 13 ; De Last, App., 29. 



184 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



Chap. VI. 



1628. 



Naval suc- 
cesses of 
the Dutch. 



20 May. 



5 Sept. 



Heyn cap- 
tures the 
Spanish 
Silver 
Fleet. 
December. 



very meagre. But the cattle and beasts, which had been 
sent from Holland three years before, had thriven ; and ev- 
ery thing wore an air of progress and improvement.* 

While the ships which brought these flattering accounts 
from Manhattan were yet at sea, an event occurred which 
materially influenced the fortunes of the growing colony. 
The renewal of hostilities with Spain had enabled the 
Dutch to gain the most brilliant successes at sea, and 
bring ruin and dishonor upon their enemy. Swift min- 
isters of retributive justice, the fleets of the West India 
Company swept the ocean, and wrested from the Span- 
iard the rich spoil he had wrung from the unoflending 
princes of Mexico and Peru. In 1627, Peter Petersep 
Heyn, a native of Delft-Haven, who, by reason of his 
courage and abilities, had been raised from a low station 
to the rank of admiral, distinguished himself in the con- 
quest of Saint Salvador, and the destruction of twenty-six 
ships of the enemy. Heyn now received orders to inter- 
cept and capture the Spanish "Silver Fleet," on its an- 
nual return from the West Indies. Sailing to Cuba, he 
fell in with ten of their galleons off" Havanna, and cap- 
tured them in a few hours. The next day the remainder 
of the fleet w^as perceived about three leagues off". Chase 
was made at once ; but the Spaniards, carrying a press 
of sail, took refuge in the Bay of Matanzas, where nearly 
all ran aground. Heyn instantly following them in, took 
nine more prizes ; and brought all the captured vessels, 
except two, safely to Holland. The booty was immense. 
Including nearly one hundred and forty thousand pounds 
of pure silver, it was valued at twelve millions of guilders.! 
The enthusiasm of the people was unbounded on Heyn's 
triumphant return. He was introduced into the Assem- 
bly of the States G-eneral, and received the public thanks 
of the nation. As modest as he was brave, he asked for 
nothing of the enormous treasure he had won. Soon aft- 
erward, the vacant office of Lieutenant Admiral was forced 



* Was.scnaar, xvi., 13 ; Doc. Ili.st. N. Y., iii., 47, 48. 
t De Lact, 147 ; Aitzema, i., 720. 



PETER MINUIT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 185 

upon him in spite of his humble protestations that it chap. vi. 
was too high a dignity for one of his mean birth and 
unpolished manners.* The next year, Heyn dying glo-jyju^e. 
riously on the deck of his ship, which he had boldly laid 
between two Dunkirk pirates, his body was interred in 
princely state, near that of William of Orange, in the old 
mausolean church at Delft, where his grateful government * 

erected a magnificent marble monument to his memory.! 
Successful war thus poured infatuating \vealth into 
the treasury of the West India Company. In one year 
they divided fifty per cent. In two years they had cap- 
tured one hundred and four prizes. t What Barneveldt 
had feared soon came to pass. To the lust of lucre was 
now added the pride of conquest. The nation shared the 
oflorv, while the company secured the spoil of the war. imatuanns 
It IS not surprising, therefore, that when the neo^otiation, the west 

. . . ^ India Com 

which the King of Spain opened, in 1629, to renew the late i>!"iy- 
truce, became public, it should have met with general and 
determined opposition. The West India Company, covet- 
ous of gain, presented a strong remonstrance to the States 23 October 
General against the proposition, and warmly urged the 
advantages of a longer war ; the clergy, suspicious of 
Philip's sincerity, opposed the truce, as detrimental both 
to Church and State ; and a large majority of the people 
themselves, encouraged by the late naval successes, were 
disposed to continue a contest, now become not only glori- 
ous, but profitable. The opposition to the proposed treaty 
became so universal and so strong, that the negotiations , 
were necessarily abandoned. The West India Company, 
continuing " a prince-like, instead of a merchant-like war," 
soon added Brazil to their possessions ; and the maritime 1630. 
superiority of Holland no longer remained a problem.^ 

* Aitzema, i., 720. 

t The States General, on the occasion of Ilcyn's death, sent a mess.ige of condolence to 
his mother, an honest peasant, who, notwithstanding her son's elevation, had been con- 
tent to remain in her original station. When she received the message, she replied, "Ay, 
I thought what would be the end of him. lie was always a vagabond — but I did my best 
to correct him. He has got no more than he deserved." — Cciresier, Tableau des Prov. 
Unies, vi., 40 ; Davies, ii., 571-573, 657. 

X Wagenaar, Vad. Hist., Ix., 70 ; Moulton, 368. 

() IIol. Uoc, i., 101, 107 ; De Witt ; Aitzema, i., 900, 996. , 



186 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

(UAP. VI. Yet the preservation of the Dutch territories in Ameri- 
■ ca was enormously expensive ; and thus far, the colonists 
Cost of ^^^'^ were settled in New Netherland, had been "not a 
«?nn(h ^"'' pj'ofitj hut a loss to the company." The peltry trade, how- 
ever, continued to be "right advantageous;" but it could 
" at the utmost return, one year with another, only fifty 
thousand guilders."* Duly appreciating the importance 
of the island of Manhattan as a permanent commercial 
emporium, the company had purchased it for their own 
private property, and had concentrated in its neighborhood 
nearly the whole European population of the province. To 
a contemporary English observer, the Dutch colony ap- 
peared "to subsist in a comfortable maimer, and to prom- 
ise fairly both to the state and undertakers." The cause 
of its prosperity was evident. The emigrants under the 
West India Company, " though they be not many, are 
well chosen, and known to be useful and serviceable ; and 
they second them with seasonable and fit supplies, cherish- 
ing them as carefully as their own families."! The trad- 
ing post at Fort Orange was garrisoned by military factors 
alone. On the South River, a single vessel, with a small 
crew, sufficed to keep up the trade and possession of the 
Dutch. Still, notwithstanding their apparent prosperity, 
the families clustered round Fort Amsterdam hardly sup- 
ported themselves ; and the annual returns from New 
Netherland did not satisfy the directors of a victorious 
company, flushed with the easy spoil of Spanish fleets. 
Plans for This statc of things they desired to improve ; and plans 
7.atioii. for the systematic and extended colonization of the whole 
province were earnestly considered. 

De Rasieres, who had fallen into disgrace with Minuit, 
had now returned to Holland. Though deprived of "his 
things and notes," he still was able, from recollection, to 
draw up a statement of affairs in New Netherland, for his 
patron, Samuel Blommaert, one of the leading directors of 

* Hoi. Doc, i., 1G5 ; Lambrcchtsen, 34, 35. 

t "The Pliinter'.s Plea," London, 1630. This interesting pamphlet, the authorship of 
which is ascribed to the Rev. John White, of Dorchester, England, was printed soon after 
the sailing of Winthrop's fleet, 8th of June, 1030 —Young, Chron. Mass., 16. 



PETER MINUIT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 187 

the Amsterdam Chamber. After much deliberation, it cuAr. vi. 



was determined that the manifold resources of its lars[e 

1629 
territory could be best developed by the establishment of ,p,,g ^^^' 

distinct and independent Colonies, at various points on the }'„*"i?^'i''pX 
North and South Rivers. These colonies were to be, in'^J'^'^''"'?^'' 
some respects, analogous to the lordships and seigneur ies 
of Europe, yet all in general subordination to the West In- 
dia Company ; and it was thought that their success could 
be better secured by private enterprise, than by the com- 
pany itself, whose attention was now almost entirely en- 
grossed by the affairs of the Spanish war. The fostering 
of its own colony on the island of Manhattan, and the ad- 
vancement of the fur trade, of which it proposed to retain 
the monopoly, were quite sufficient to occupy all the time 
and capital which the Amsterdam Chamber could at pres- 
ent devote to the subject. 

With the view of inducing private capitalists to engage ciiartcr of 
in the proposed plan, the College of XIX. accordingly pre- fo"patr«)n8 
pared the draft of a charter conferring certain special priv- ^'^°''°^'' 
ileges upon such members of the company as should, at 
their own expense and risk, plant colonies in any part of 
New Netherland, excepting the island of Manhattan. More 1 628. 
than a year was spent in considering the details ; and in ~ 
the summer of 1629, the plan, as revised and amended, in 1629. 
thirty-one articles, was finally adopted by the College of Adopted. 
XIX., and was approved and confirmed by the States Gen- 
eral. In the following autumn, their High Mightinesses 
established several articles for the government of the Dutch n o. t»ber. 
transatlantic possessions, and published a decree, author- 
izing the different Chambers of the West India Company 
to appoint a council of nine persons, to whom the general commiHsa 
direction of colonial affairs should be assigned.* 

While the West India Company was thus maturing its 
selfish commercial scheme for the introduction of the feud- 
al system into its American province, English emigrants coioniza- 

111 • ii i -1 1 1 1 ''O" '"New 

were gradually occupymg the territory on the north and England. 

* Hoi. Doc, ii., 95-99 ; Groot Placaatbook, ii., 1235 ; Notules of S. G., 1629, 683 ; Latn- 
brechtsen, 29 ; Moulton, 387, 399 ; O'Call., i., 112 ; D. D. Barnard's Sketch, 105 ; Do Vries, 
162. 



188 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



1629. 



Chap. VI east of Ncw Netlicrland. Straggling plantations, some of 
them but single families, were already settled on portions 
of the coast between New Plymouth and Piscataqua. A 
few persons began a plantation on Massachusetts Bay, 
1625. near what is now Q,uincy, which they called Mount Wol- 
Mount laston. The settlement soon afterward fell under the Con- 
or -'Merry trol of Thomas Morton, who changed its name to " Merry 
Mount ;" sold powder and shot to the savages ; harbored 
runaways ; and, setting up a May-pole, broached a cask of 
wine and held a high carousal. But the New Plymouth 
1628. people, at the solicitation of " the chief of the straggling 
plantations," at length interfered by force ; and Morton 
was taken prisoner and sent back to England.* 
Example of In the mean time, the Puritans in England had grown 
()uth pro-"™" more and more uneasy under the restraints of English 
tan emigra- law, and tlic intolerance of the English hierarchy ; and 
the example of the New Plymouth colonists had inspired 
their brethren at home with the desire of emigrating across 
the Atlantic. It was a favorable moment to execute the 
design. The leading members of the council for New En- 
gland, unable or unwilling to undertake the colonization 
of the country which had been granted to them by James 
I., were limiting their ambition to the sale of subordinate 
(jrantof patents. At the instigation of John White, a Puritan cler- 
Massacim- gymau of Dorcliestcr, Sir Henry Rosewell, John Endicott, 
ohtain.'d and several other persons of distinction in that noighbor- 
iouu.-iiof hood, obtained from the New England corporation the 
v'l Miti. gi-ant of a belt of land on Massachusetts Bay, extending 
from three miles .south of the River Charles to three miles 
north of the River Merrimack, and stretching from the At- 
lantic to the Pacific. Other associates from London and 
its vicinity — AVinthrop, Dudley, Johnson, Pynchon, Eaton, 
Saltonstall, and Bellingham — soon afterward became joint- 
ly interested in the enterprise. In the autumn of the same 
year, about sixty emigrants, under the guidance of Endi- 
11 sipt. cott, were dispatched to Naumkeag, or Salem, where they 
Salem. wcic welcomcd by Roger Conant, who, expelled from New 

* Bradford, in Prince, 231, 240, 244, 250, 252 ; Morton's Memorial, 135-141. 



PETER MINUIT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. Ijs9 

Plymouth, had settled himself there, two years before, chap. vi 
This was the first English emigration to Massachusetts 
Bay. The " Old Colony," at New Plymouth, had preceded, 
by about eight years, Endicott's settlement at Salem.* 

Early in the following spring, a royal charter passed the 1629. 
irreat seal, incorporating "the governor and company of A '^''»'''''- 

» 7 I o O r J Royal char 

the Massachusetts Bay in New England ;" confirming to '",''"" '^•■•'■' 
them the Plymouth Company's grant to Rosewell and his B''>- 
associates ; and superadding powers of government. The 
territory conveyed, included all that portion of New Neth- 
erland lying north of Esopus and south of the Mohawk Riv- 
er ; but it was expressly provided that, with respect to such 
parts or parcels as had, before the third day of November, 
1620, been "actually possessed or inhabited by any other Excepting 
Christian prince or state," the grant should be " utterly 
void." Nothing was said in the charter about any par- 
ticular religion : there was no suggestion that the new 
colony was to be exclusively Puritan. Nevertheless, it 
was declared and granted, that the colonists themselves 
" shall have and enjoy all liberties and immunities" of Brit- 
ish subjects ; and no laws or ordinances were- to be made 
or executed, by the corporation or its officers, " contrary 
or repugnant to the laws and statutes" of the realm. t 

About two hundred fresh emigrants, sent out at the ex- 
pense of the corporation, joined the settlement at Salenrrao jum-. 
in the course of the summer. The whole population of 
Massachusetts Bay now nvimbered about three hundred ; seuie- 
one third of whom soon afterward planted themselves asiUeman.i 
little south of Salem, at Cherton, or Charlestown. Under town'.'*'^ ''*' 

* Chalmers, 136; Young's Cli. Mass., 13, 30; Bancrott, i., 340. 341 ; Ilildreth, i., 176, 
178. 

t Original Charter in the State House at Boston ; copies are in Ancient Charters, in 
Hutchinson, and in Hazard ; Chalmers, 137. The excepting clause in the patent is as fol- 
lows : " Provided always, that it" the said lands, &c., were, at the time of the granting of 
the said former letters patent, dated the third day of November, in the eighteenth year of 
our said dear father's reign aforesaid (1620), actually possessed or inhabited by any other 
Christian prince or state, or were within the bounds, limits, or territories of that southern 
colony (of A'^irginia), that then this present grant shall not extend to any such parts or 
parcels thereof, so formerly inhabited, or lying within the bounds of the southern planta- 
tion as aforesaid ; but, as to those parts or parcels so possessed or inhabited by such 
Christian prince or state, or being within the bounds aforesaid, shall be utterly void ; 
these presents or any thing therein contained to the contrary notwithstanding." — Haz- 
ard, i., 244. 



190 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. VI. Endicott's influence, a church was immediately organized 
at Salem, by the signature of a covenant by thirty persons 
6 Au<m.st. °^^ ^^ ^^® ^^^o hundred who formed the settlement. The 
polity of the ecclesiastic colony rejected the Anglican Lit- 
urgy, and even denied its use to those who were " sincere 
in their affection for the good of the plantation." This 
innovation displeased several of the colonists, who, headed 
by John and Samuel Brown, both members of Endicott's 
council, demanded the enjoyment of the right of all Brit- 
ish subjects, to worship God according to the ritual of the 
iieiigious Established Church. But Endicott, " whose self-will was 
established inflamed by fanaticism," instantly forbade them the re- 
.imsetts. ligious liberty they desired. The wrongs which the hie- 
rarchy had inflicted upon the Puritans in the Old World, 
were now retorted upon powerless Episcopalian emigrants 
in the wilderness of the New, The Browns were arrested 
as " factious and evil-conditioned," and immediately sent 
back to England, because they adhered to an " immunity" 
which the charter had granted and declared. But they 
found that "the blessings of the promised land were to be 
kept for Puritanic dissenters." Thus early was freedom 
of conscience banished from Massachusetts, by her colo- 
nists themselves; for it was, indeed, " an age of much less 
charity than zeal."* 

* Young's Oh. Mass., C", 89, 196, 287-292 ; Nenl's Puritans, i., 299, 300 ; Neal's N. E., 
i., 141-144; Hutchinson, i., 18; Bancroft, i., 348-350, Ilildretli, i., 182, 183; Chalmers's 
Revolt or the Colonies, i., 41-43. 



PETER MINUIT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 191 



CHAPTER VII. 
1630-1632. 

When Philip of Burgundy, as sovereign of the Nether- chap. vii 
lands, instituted the Order of the Golden Fleece, he gave 
to it the expressive motto " Pretium non vile laborum."* ^^g qo,^'. 
The legend was more significant than Philip imagined. '^" f''''«"=<'- 
Industry had at last received heraldic honors ; and the 
recompense of labor could never be ignoble, while knight- 
hood wore upon its glittering collar the emblem of that 
valued object which Argonautic enterprise had sought 
and found in Colchis. 

The self-relying spirit of the Dutch had already conse- imiustriai 

•' " * . •' Hpiritolthe 

crated, in the heart of the nation, the sentiment that labor Uu^h 
is honorable. In Holland, human industry and human 
skill early won their most splendid triumphs. The whole 
land was a monument of victorious toil. A great portion 
of its marshy surface lying below the level of the ocean, 
required to be defended, by artificial means, against the 
irruption of the tides. And every moment was a moment 
of peril. The dikes, which had been built by hardy in- 
dustry, could be maintained only by ceaseless vigilance. 
A breach in an embankment might flood a territory which 
years of incessant labor could scarcely drain. But the in- 
domitable spirit of the nation was equal to any emergency. 
That all-pervading spirit was still further developed by 
the system of local association, which the genius of a self- 
relying people introduced. Holland was rather an aggre- ^ige of iiw 
gate of towns, than a state in which, as in other nations, ^^m. 
the towns were of less relative importance. The greater 

* Davies, i., 220 ; McCulIagh, ii., 107, 108. 



1 90 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

i.nAP. VII. part of its land was originally held by feudal lords, who 
were bound to protect and defend their tenants and re- 
tainers, in return for their allegiance and assistance. But 
while there were lords and vassals in Holland, there were 

No serfs in uo scrfs.* By dcgrccs, industry sought companionship, 
and busy hamlets clustered behind the rising dikes. These 
hamlets gradually expanded into towns ; and the hum of 
the active loom was never intermitted. The towns soon 
grew rich and powerful ; concessions of franchises were 
successively extorted from the necessities of feudalism ; 
and while the accumulating wealth of manufacturers and 
merchants contributed increasing quotas to the expenses 
of the construction and maintenance of the dikes, the ter- 
ritorial nobles avoided raising questions of their waning 

Hurgiier authority. On the other hand, the thrifty burghers, from 

covcrn* 

nients. thc time they first surrounded their towns with perma- 
nent walls, insisted upon the principle of self-assessment; 
for they felt that, " although the same tribute and tax. 
laid by consent, or by imposing, be all one to the purse. 
yet it worketh diversely upon the courage."! In every 
vicissitude of affairs, the Dutch burghers, therefore, clung 
to their essential principle of self-taxation, which soon be- 
came an immunity, by usage and prescription ; and thc 
territorial lord found that he must yield to the progressive 
spirit of popular freedom many of the attributes of feudal- 
ism, which, in other lands, were jealously maintained. 
f.iidai Thus the industrial ideas of the Dutch people and thc 
(i .fiod. growing influence of the Dutch towns curtailed the au- 
thority of the feudal chief. Those ideas and that influence 
naturally modified the rigorous form of the ancient ten- 
ures of land. The noble owner of the soil, from being the 
predatory head of an armed band of dependents, soon be- 
came the careful landlord, drawing his revenue from as- 
certained rent. Living in the hum of industry, he could 
not help luiconsciously imbibing some of the thrift and 
prudence of thc laborious classes which surrounded him. 
Constant intercourse, in the relations of business and in the 

* Grotiu8. t Lord Bacon on " The true Greatness of Kingdoms." 



t; 

.system 



PETER MINUIT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 19;i 

meetings of the Provincial and General States, at length chap vu 
broke down many of the rusting barriers which had scp- 
arated the castle and tlie coronet from the counter and the 
loom. Gradually, the nobles began to imitate the mod- 
esty of the traders and working people in garb and in hab- 
it; and frugality and industry became as universal and 
as honorable among the Dutch landlords, as they were al- 
ways the characteristic attributes of the operatives in the 
towns, and of the subordinate tenants on estates. The re- 
wards of labor had lessened the distance between the lord Landlord 
and the peasant ; and the rights of the humblest man in am. 
Holland could not fail to be respected, when, by the cease- 
less toil of man alone, the lands of Holland were preserved 
from the invasion of the sea. Common interests assimi- 
late humanity ; and distinctions in rank must necessarily 
become less marked, when all must work or drown.* 

Still, the lord of the manor continued to exercise a lim- 
it(3d jurisdiction within his own domain. The inhabitant-s 
of Holland are described by Grotius as being early di- 
vided into the three classes of nobles, w^ell-born men, and 
common people ; but without any mention of serfs as hav- 
ing ever existed.! When compared with the social condi- 
tion of the people of the towns, that of the rural popula- condition 
tion was, perhaps, less secure and happy, and was less fit- peasantrj. 
ted to develope the self-relying spirit of the nation. Yet, 
if the landlord attempted oppression, the tenant had but 
U) fly to the next town, where he would be sure to find 
abundant employment, shelter, and protection. Accus- 
tomed to bear arms for the common defense, the peasants 
of Holland had learned to use them for their own. Dutch 
feudalism was thus shorn of many attributes which ren- 
dered it repulsive in other lands. Though the rustic ten- 
antry certainly enjoyed much less political influence than 
the inhabitants of the towns, they still possessed a large Popular 
measure of popular freedom. They were happy and con- ious n-ee- 
tented, in tilling their lands, and in freely worshiping their 

* Guicciardini, i., 56 ; Rev. Dr. Bethune ; McCnllagh, ii., 177. 
t Grotius, Inleyduige, i^ 14 ; Davies, i., 105, 1()6. 

N 



194 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

("iiAP. VII. Grod according to their consciences. No religious perse- 

cution drove them from that Fatherland which they loved 

to veneration. They needed strong inducements, before 

they would consent to emigrate to the New World. 

niarierof The charter of " Privileges and Exemptions," by which 

i.-ges and au armed commercial monopoly proposed to effect the per- 

uons" for maueut agricultural colonization of New Netherland, while 

p;itroons ill . " ttii 

New Neth- it naturallv embodied the peculiar policy of its mercantile 

erland. . -' ^ i 

projectors, encouraged the transfer, across the Atlantic, of 
the modified feudalism of the Fatherland. Reservingf to 
Manhattan themselvcs thc islaiid of Manhattan, which the company 
uni. declared it was their intention to people first, they desig- 

nated it as the emporium of their trade, and required that 
ail fruits and wares " that arise on the North River, and 
lands lying thereabouts," should be first brought there. 
To private persons, disposed to settle themselves in any 
other part of New Netherland, the company offered the ab- 
solute property of as much land as the emigrants might be 
able "properly to improve." They were also to have " free 
liberty of hunting and fowling," according to the regula- 
tions of the Provincial director and council. Exploration 
was specially encouraged. Whoever should "discover any 
shores, bays, or other fit places for erecting fisheries, or 
the making of salt ponds," was promised an absolute and 
exclusive property in such discoveries. 

But it was obvious that the rural tenantry of Holland 
did not possess the requisite means to sustain the expenses 
of emigration ; and the associated directors thought that 
the permanent agricultural settlement of their American 
province could be best accomplished by the organization 
of separate subordinate "colonics," or manors, under large 
proprietaries. To tempt the ambition of such capitalists, 
peculiar privileges were offered to them. These privi- 
leges, nevertheless, were carefully confined to members of 
the West India Company. The charter provided that any 
such member as should, within four years, plant a colony 
of fifty adults, in any part of New Netherland, except the 
reserved island of Manhattan, should be acknowledged as 



PETER MINUIT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 195 

a " Patroon," or feudal chief of the territory he might chap. vii. 
thus colonize. The lands selected for each colony might 
extend sixteen miles in length, if confined to one side of a pa,roonH. 
navigable river ; or eight miles on each side, if hoth banks 
were occupied ; but they might run as far into the coun- 
try " as the situation of the occupiers will permit." If a 
proportionate number of additional emigrants should be 
settled, the limits of the colonies might be proportionally 
enlarged. Each patroon was promised a full title by in- 
heritance, with venia testandi, or the right to dispose of 
his estate by will. He was to have " the chief command 
and lower jurisdictions," and the exclusive privilege of fish- 
ing, fowling, and grinding, within his own domain. In 
case any patroon " should in time prosper so much as to 
found one or more cities," he was to have "power and au- 
thority to establish ofiicers and magistrates there." The 
patroons were to furnish their colonies with " proper in- 
structions, in order that they may be ruled and governed 
conformably to the rule of government made or t« be made 
by the Assembly of the XIX." From all judgments in the 
manorial courts of the patroons, for upward of fifty guild- 
ers, an appeal might lie to the director and council in New 
Netherland. For the space of |Bn years, the colonists un- coiomsts 
der the patroons were to be entirely free from " customs, pmroons* 
taxes, excise, imposts, or any other contributions.'" But 
none of these colonists, " either man or woman, son or 
daughter, man-servant or maid-servant," could be allowed 
to leave the service of their patroons during the period for 
which they might be bound to remain, except by the writ- 
ten consent of such patroon ; and the company pledged it- 
self to do every thing in its power to apprehend and de- 
liver up every such colonist "as shall leave the service of 
his patroon and enter into the service of another, or shall, 
contrary to his contract, leave his service." 

The patroons themselves might trade all along the coast Priviicgf » 
from Florida to Newfoundland, provided the cargoes pro- troons. 
cured were brought to Manhattan ; whence they might be 
sent to Holland, after paying a duty of five per cent, to 



(Of) HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. VII. the Company. The patroons were also promised the free- 
dom of trade and traffic " all alonsr the coast of New Neth- 
The titrv srland and places circumjacent," in every kind of mer- 
L-^rtcdti chandise, " except beavers, otters, minks, and all sorts of 
tie coinpa- peltry," whicli trade the company reserved to itself. The 
fur trade, however, was permitted to the patroons, " at 
such places where the company have no factories," upon 
condition that all peltries thus procured should be brought 
to Manhattan, and delivered to the director for shipment 
to Holland. Freedom of the fisheries was also promised : 
with the fish they caught, the patroons might trade to It- 
aly and other neutral countries, paying to the company a 
duty of three guilders for every ton. 
p=!Ciproiai All the colonists, whether independent or under patroons, 
aadrel't'ri'r- wcre positively forbidden " to make any woolen, linen, or 
'■°"*' cotton cloth, or weave any other stuffs there, on pain of 
being banished, and as perjurers to be arbitrarily pun- 
ished." On the other hand, the company promised to pro- 
tect and defend all the colonists, whether free or in serv- 
ice, " against all outlandish and inlandish wars and pow- 
ers." The company likewise agreed " to finish the fort 
on the island of the Manhattes, and put it in a posture of 
defense, without delay." ^ The company further promised 
to supply the colonists with "as many blacks as they con- 
veniently could ;" but they were not to be bound to do this 
"for a longer time than they should think proper." The 
charter also distinctly provided, that "whoever shall settle 
any colony out of the limits of the Manhattes Island, shall 
be obliged to satisfy the Indians for the land they shall 
settle upon." The patroons and colonists were likewise 
enjoined to make prompt provision for the support of " a 
Minister and Schoolmaster, that thus the service of God 
and zeal for religion may not grow cool, and be neglected 
among them ; and that they do, for the first, procure a 
Comforter of the Sick there." Each separate colony 
might appoint a deputy, to confer upon its affairs with the 
director and council of New Netherland ; and every col 
ony was specially required to make an annual and exact 



PETER MINUIT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 197 

report of its situation, to the authorities at Manhattan, for chap. vii. 
transmission to the company at Amsterdam,* 

Such were the chief features of the West India Com- 
pany's famous charter of "Freedoms and Exemptions" for 
the a<rricultural colonization of its American province. Thccharu-r 
But the spirit of that charter was adverse to the true in- bie lo the 
terests of the province, and its effects were blighting and 
unhappy. It encouraged the transfer to New Netherland 
of some of the most objectionable elements in the modified 
feudalism of the Fatherland. It offered the most attract- 
ive inducements to the ambition of stockholders of the 
company, in the peculiar privileges which were to be en- 
joyed by the patroons of separate colonies ; and it sought 
to allure colonists to emigrate under such patroons, by 
promising, to them alone, a ten years' exemption from tax- 
ation. While it conferred enormous specific powers on 
these patroons, it carefully recognized the universal com- 
mercial monopoly of the company ; and it aimed at main- 
taining an unquestioned political supremacy, by requiring 
annual reports of the condition of each subordinate colony 
to be made to the director and council at Manliattan. It 
prohibited colonial manufactures under penalty of banish- 
ment, and restrained colonial commerce by the threat of 
confiscation. It pledged the company to a qualified sup- 
port of the slave trade. 

Yet, notwithstanding all the blemishes by which the Redeemitig 
selfishness of monopoly defaced the charter, it still had 
many redeeming features. It solemnly recognized the 
rights of the aboriginal red man, and secured him satis- 
faction for his land. It invited the emigration of inde- 
pendent farmers, by promising to every one a homestead. 
It provided for the good government of the subordinate 
colonies, and for the right of appeal from the manorial 
courts. It promised protection and defense to all the col- 
onists ; and it encouraged religion and learning, by enjoin- 
ing the support of churches and schools. 

* See Charter of " Privileges and Exemptions"' ut length, in Wassenaar, xviii., 94 ; 
Moullon, 389 ; O'Call., i., U2 ; ii., N. Y. 11. S. Collections, i., 370. 



198 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. VII. The introduction of the feudal system into New Neth- 
erland, was the most unfortunate result of the charter of 
Feudalism cxemptions. In the Fatherland, the industrial spirit of a 
intrNew** self-relying and liberty-loving people had shorn feudalism 
tmi^^' of many of its worst attributes ; and, practically, there 
was, perhaps, now, more popular freedom in Holland, than 
in England, or in any other country in the Old World. 
But there is always danger in delegating political pow- 
ers ; and the danger increases the further the exercise of 
those powers is removed from the fountain of supreme au- 
thority. Feudalism, which in Holland was made to bow 
before the spirit of a people long accustomed to self-gov- 
ernment, had less restraint in the distant Province, which 
was itself wholly under the arbitrary rule of a commercial 
corporation. The free spkit of the Netherlander went with 
him, indeed, to his new home across the sea. But his po- 
litical freedom was less secure there, than in the Father- 
land. It was only by degrees, and after constant struggles 
against an oppressive colonial government, that the people 
of New Netherland worked their way to some of those 
franchises which their countrymen were enjoying at home. 
The colonists under the patroons were subjected to the 
double pressure of feudal exaction and mercantile mo- 
nopoly. 
coioniza- Thus it was, that the agricultural colonization of New 

tion more ' o 

embairass- jNfethcrland was begun under circumstances, in many re- 
thtiHn''"'^ spects, less favorable to the development of true popular 
^and*^" liberty, than was the colonization of New England. The 
feudal system of Europe was never introduced into the 
Puritan colonies ; nor were their magistrates the agents 
of close commercial monopolies in the mother country. 
The first settlements in New England were unembarrassed 
by the difficulties which paralyzed the prosperity of New 
Netherland. The Puritan emigrants to America had a 
clear field and a fair start. No political incubus oppressed 
them. They claimed to form their own governments ; and, 
to a great extent, they did form them. Every advantage 
was on their side ; and it was less the fault of circum- 



PETER MINUIT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 199 

stance than of will, if the grand principles of Democratic chap. vu. 
liberty did not, at once, receive a noble illustration at 
their hands. If religious intolerance smothered popular 
freedom in the Puritan colonies, it was not because the 
Council of Plymouth forced an involuntary policy upon 
their inhabitants. If civil liberty was hampered and re- 
strained, it was not because the people of New England, 
like the people of New Netherland, were constantly 
obliged to wring reluctant concessions of popular rights 
from grudging superiors at home. 

The privileges which the charter offered to patroons Privileges 

,. , . . . . ofpatroons 

were peculiarly attractive to the aristocratic sentiment attractive 

. . to the 

which grew with the acquisition of wealth in Republican Dutch mer- 
Holland. Almost all the land outside of the walls of the 
towns was already the property of old and noble families, 
who were loth to part with any portion of their hereditary 
estates. It was, therefore, no easy matter for a Dutch 
merchant, who had grown rich, to become a Dutch land- 
lord. Though much of the prejudice which had separated 
the ancient noble from the wealthy burgher of the Father- 
land was worn away, there still remained a great gulf be- 
tween them. But now, boundless estates might easily be 
secured on the magnificent rivers of Now Netherland, and 
the yearnings of successful tradesmen be readily gratified. 
From the middle rank of enterprising men who had reared 
Dutch commerce and trade upon the basis of Dutch liber- 
ty and industry, was now to be formed a specially-privi- 
leged class, in a new and growing world. The Holland 
shareholder might now become the colonial patroon. The 
lord of the Amsterdam counting-house might now become 
the lord of the New Netherland manor. 

The charter of Freedoms and Exemptions, which had chaner 
been adopted by the College of XIX. in the summer of 
1629, was printed, in a pamphlet form, early the follow- March. 
ing year, and circulated throughout the United Provinces. 
By this means, the attention of stockholders in the com- 
pany, who might be desirous to become patroons, as well 
as of persons of all classes who might be disposed to emi- 



200 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. vh. grate from the Fatherland, was invited to the temperate 
climate, fertile soil, varied resources, and advantageous 
commercial situation of New Netherland.* 

While the details of the charter were yet under advise- 
Patrooii- ment in the meetings of the company, several directors of 
cured i)y the Amsterdam Chamber, who had been appointed "com- 
damdiroc- missarics of New Netherland,"! hastened to appropriate 
to themselves the extensive privileges which they knew 
would soon be publicly guaranteed to colonial proprieta- 
ries. The most prompt in action were Samuel G-odyn and 
Samuel Blommaert ; the latter of whom had befriended 
Isaac de Rasieres, the late secretary of the Province. In- 
fluenced, perhaps, by his representations, Grodyn and Blom- 
maert dispatched two persons to the South River, "to ex- 
amine into the situation of those quarters," and purchase 

1629. a tract of land from the savages. At the first meeting of 
19 June. ^1^^ Amsterdam Chamber after the adoption of the charter, 

Godyn notified his associate directors that, in quality of 
patroon, he had undertaken " to occupy the Bay of the 
South River," and that he had " advised the director, Pe- 
ter Minuit, and charged him to register the same there."1: 
The agents in New Netherland faithfully executed the 
(Jodyn and ordcrs of their principals in Holland. A tract of land on 

Blommaert fiT-» ■ni-rv-n 

purchascon " the south comer of the Bay oi South River," extending 

the South '' /-. TT- 1 

River. northward about thirty-two miles " n'om Cape Hinlopen 
to the mouth of the said river," and inland about two miles 
in breadth, was actually purchased from the native In- 

i June. dians, for Grodyn and Blommaert, a few days before the 
adoption of the charter in Holland. The formal patent 

1630. for the territory thus secured, was attested in the summer 
" ^' of the following year, by the director and council, at Man- 
hattan.^ It was the first European title, by purchase 
from the aborigines, within the limits of the present State 



* Wasscnaar, xviii., 94 ; Lambrechtsen, 29 ; Moulton, .189 ; ii., N. Y. H. S. CoU.,i., 309. 

t De Vries, 102. t Ila/.ard's Ann. Penn., 22 ; O'Call., i., 479. 

i) IIol. Doc, i., 176; O'Call., i., 122. The original patent to Godyn and Blommaert — 
which I found in the West India House, at Amsterdam, in 1841 — is now deposited in the 
Secretary's Office at Albariy. It has the only signatures, known to e.xist, of Minuit and his 
council. 



PETER MINUIT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 201 

of Delaware ; and it bears date two years before the char- chap. vii. 
ter of Maryland, granted to Lord Baltimore by Charles I. , 

Another director of the Amsterdam Chamber, Kiliaen ^iiiaenvan 
van Rensselaer, " who was accustomed to polish (rafinee- ^uya^^*'**^ 
ren) pearls and diamonds,"* had his attention meanwhile a"^,"''' 
directed to the regions adjacent to Fort Orange, on the 
North River ; where Sebastian Jansen Krol had now been 
stationed for four years, as under director and commissa- 
ry of the West India Company. At Van Rensselaer's re- 
quest, Krol purchased for him, from the Indian proprietors, s April. 
a tract of land on the west side of the river, extending 
northward from Beeren Islandt to Smack's Island, and 
" stretching two days' journey into the interior." In the 
mean time, vigorous preparations for colonization had been .sends out 
made ; and several emigrants, well provided with imple- uenssei- 
rnents and cattle, were sent out from Holland, early in the 
spring, under the supervision of Wolfert Gerritsen, as "op- 
per-bouwmeester," or overseer of farms. The colonists em- 21 March, 
barked at the Texel, in the ship " Eendragt," or Unity, 
Captain John Brouwer. In a few weeks they arrived at 
Manhattan ; whence they proceeded at once to Fort Or- 24 May 
ange, and commenced the actual settlement of the " colo- 
nie of Rensselaerswyck." Krol's first purchase, however, 
did not comprehend the lands in the immediate vicinity of 
Fort Orange. A few weeks after the arrival of the first 
colonists, the patroon's special agent, Gillis Hossett, in sail- 
ing up the river, came to the place where several men were 
busy in cutting timber for a new ship which Minuit was 
building at Manhattan. Meeting there several Indian sa- Additional 
chems, Hossett secured for Van Rensselaer the cession of chased on 
their lands "on the west side of the North River, south and east 
and north of the Fort Oransfe," and extending nearly to river. 

^ ' . ° ''27 July. 

the " Monemins Castle," on a small island now called 
Haver Island, at the confluence of the Mohawk. The land 
on the east side of the North River, extending northward - 

* De Vries, p. 162. 

t " Bear's Island, since called Barren Island, about twelve miles south of Albany."— 
Moulton, 403. 



202 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. VII. ly from Castle Island to the Mohawk, was the private prop- 
erty of the sachem Nawanemitt. From him, Van Rens- 
■ selaer's agents also purchased the territory " called Sem- 
esseeck, lying on the east side of the aforesaid river, op- 
posite the Fort Orange, as well above as below, and from 
Poetanock, the mill creek, northwards to Negagonce, being 
s August, about twelve miles large measure," These purchases were 
!;< August, confirmed a few days afterward, by formal patents, signed 
E.Ment of by the director and council at Manhattan.* Thus a large 
ofRenssei- portiou of tlic present counties of Albany and Rensselaer 
became the private property of a shrewd member of the 
Amsterdam Chamber. Fort Orange itself, with the land 
immediately round its walls, was all that now remained, 
in that neighborhood, under the exclusive jurisdiction of 
the West India Company. 
Michael An invitiug region near Manhattan was still unappro- 

chases'pa- priated. Another director of the Amsterdam Chamber, 
siateiiLsi- Michael Pauw, of Achtienhoven, near Utrecht, finding 
that Van Rensselaer had already monopolized the lands 
in the neighborhood of Fort Orange, hastened to secure 
12 .luiy. for himself, the tract called " Hobokan-Hacking, lying op- 
posite the Island Manhatas," and bounded on the east by 
the North River, and on the south by Ahasimus.t A few 
days afterward, Pauw also procured from its Indian own- 
ers the cession of the whole of Staten Island, "on the west 
shore of Hamel's Hooftden,"1: now called the Narrows. 
The purchase of Staten Island was succeeded, in the fol- 
■22 Nov. lowing autumn, by the still more advantageous investiture 
of "Ahasimus" and "Aressick," extending "along the 
River Mauritius and Island Manhatas on the east side, 
and the Island Hobokan-Hacking on the north side, and 
surrounded by marshes, serving sufficiently for distinct 
boundaries." The spot was a favorite resort for the In- 
dians, who were in the habit of conveying their peltries 

* ITol. Doc, i., 181 ; Alb. Rec, i., 199 ; G. G., 4-2C ; Deed Book. vii. ; Doc. Hist. N. Y.. 

ii., 49 ; Rcnssclaerswyck MSS. ; O'Call., i., 122-125, 319, 429 ; Moultoii, 403. 
t Modern usage has converted " Aha.simus" into " Horsimus." 
t These " Ilooltden," or headlajids, were so named after Hcndrick Hamel, one of the 

members of the Amsterdam Chamber ; see ante, p. 148. 



PETER MINUIT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 20;J 

from that point, directly across the river to Fort Amster-cnAP. vn 
dam. This desirable purchase included the whole neigh- 
borhood of " Paulus' Hook," or Jersey City ; and the sa- 
gacious Pauw, Latinizing his patronymic, gave the name 
of "Pavonia" to his embryo colony.* 

Thus the most important points on the North and South The best 

tracts in 

Rivers of New Netherland were caught up by astute New Neth 

■ 11 erland mo- 

managers of the Amsterdam Chamber. But in all mo- nopouzed 
nopolies there is a selfishness which repels the disinterest- troons. 
ed. What lure could the company now hold out to inde- 
pendent emigrants ? Rich directors, forestalling humbler 
competition, had made prize of the most valuable regions ; 
and, the company's rigorous protective impolicy prohibit- 
ing all colonial commerce and manufactures, individual 
enterprise had little inducement to emigrate to a new 
country against such heavy odds. Where was the good 
genius of the liberal republic, when trade and commerce 
wore unworthy shackles in the American province, which 
Holland merchants claimed to govern ? For engrossing 
cupidity now reigned triumphant in the councils of the 
Amsterdam Chamber, and the fortunes of New Netherland 
awaited the issue of the experiment it proposed. 

The several patroonships, however, had been acquired Jealousies 

,.„-,. among the 

by the adroitness of a few directors who " helped them- «iirectora at 

. . ^ Amstcr- 

selves by the cunning tricks of merchants ;" and it was dam. 
soon found necessary to conciliate the good-will and co- 
operation of those less wary associates who had been an- 
ticipated by their prompt proceedings. 

Wlien the news of the purchases reached Holland, jeal- 
ousy of the fortunate patroons was very naturally express- 
ed by their colleagues. Dissatisfaction was also felt among 

* Alb. Rec, G. G., 7-30 ; De Tries, 162 ; Moulton, 402, 403 ; O'Call., i., 126. The pat- 
«nV to Michaol Pauw for Staten Island, which was attested by Minuit and his council, on 
the 15th July, 1631, recites, that the inhabitants, owners, and heirs of the land "called by 
us (the Dutch) the Staten I.sland, on the west shore of Hamel's Ilooflden," appeared before 
the director and council of New Netherland, and declared that, "in consideration of cer- 
tain jiarcels of goods," they had sold the island to Michael Pauw, in whose behalf Minuit 
and his council accepted the conveyance. This patent seems to have been the first Indian 
conveyance of the island ; and it would scarcely have been signed by Minuit, if the island 
had already been bought by him, in 1626, for the West India Company, as affirmed by 
O'Callaghan, i., p. 104. The statements in llol. Doc, vii., 70, and in Beverninck, 606, 
seem to be too vague to warrant that assertion. 



204 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. VII. the shareholders of the company, that individual directors 
had grasped too much territory ; and Pauw's purchase of 
Pavonia was especially unpopular, as it included the im- 
portant spot where the Indians had been accustomed to 
assemble for trade, and whence they crossed directly over 
to Manhattan.* 

To appease the dissatisfied, as well as to secure more 

iiicpa- ample capital and more general interest, the original pa- 

iroonship ^ ii- i • -, n i 

divided, troons were obliged to receive other members of the com- 
pany into copartnership with themselves. This was nec- 
1631. essary, in order to insure the confirmation of the patents 
anuarj. ^^^ ^-^^ patroonships by the College of XIX. But even 
this arrangement did not entirely allay dissatisfaction, nor 
relieve the charter itself from criticism and attack.! 
1630. Accordingly, Van Rensselaer divided his estate about 
Fort Orange into a common stock of five shares. Two of 
Renssei- tlicsc sharcs hc retained in his own hands, together with 
shared. the title and honors of original patroon ; one share was al- 
lotted to the historian John de Laet, another to Samuel 
G-odyn, and the fifth to Samuel Blommaert ; all of whom 
were directors of the Amsterdam Chamber. With Blom- 
maert were also associated Adam Bissels and Toussaijit 
Moussart. By their articles of association, the six partners 
became co-directors of the " colonic" of Rensselaerswyck ; 
the particular management of which, however, was in- 
trusted to a board, in which Van Rensselaer controlled 
two votes, and all the other partners two.t 
(^(Kiyn and Grodyu and Blommaert also shared with other partners 
auo'siiitre thc bcuefits of their purchase on the South River. It hap- 
rbaiie!'"'^ pciicd opportuucly, that David Pietersen de Vries, the en- 

* D(.' Vries, 1(>2 ; Moulton, 404. t IIol. Doc, ii., 100-103 ; Moulton, 404. 

t IIol. Doc, v., 2'J8 ; vi., .103 ; Alb. Uec, viii., 72 ; Rcns.s. MSS. ; De Vries. 102 ; O'Call., 
i., 127 ; D. 1). liarnard's Sketch, 109. On the ancient map of the colony, in the posses- 
Kion of Mr. Van Rens.sclaer, at Albany, '' Blommaert's Burg" is laid down at the mouth 
of " Blommaert's Kill," now known as Patroon's Crock. " De Laet's Island" was the 
original name of what is now known as Van Rensselaer's Lsland, opposite Albany ; and 
" De Laet's Burg" answers to the present Greenbush. " Godyn's Island.s" are laid down 
a short distance below, on the east shore. Mr. Barnard intimates that the articles of co- 
partnersliip of the I6th of October, 1630, did not refer to Rens.selaerswyck ; but besides the 
presumptive evidence of the names on the old map, there is clear proof of the partnership 
in the Documents and Records, quoted above. In 1685, however, thc estate was repur- 
chased from the heirs of the original partners. 



PETER MINUIT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 205 

terprising mariner of Hoorn, who, in 1624, had attempted chap, vii 
to invade the West India Company's monopoly, had just~7~~~ 
returned from a tlu-ee years' voyage to the East Indies, 37 ju^^e 
where he had served as supercargo. His good conduct 
gained him many friends ; and G-odyn, with whom he had 
old acquaintance, meeting him about two months after his August. 
return, asked w^hethcr he would like to go to New Neth- 
crland, as "under patroon" and commander? De Vries 
assented, upon condition that he should be made a patroon 
upon an equality with the rest. A partnership was ac- le October 
{5ordingly formed between Godyn and Blommaert, and vries mac. 
Van Rensselaer, De Laet, and De Vries himself. Four 
other directors of the West India Company — Van Ceulen, 
Hamel, Van Haringhocck, and Van Sittorigh — were soon 
afterward admitted as additional partners ; and the ship 
" Walvis," or Whale, of eighteen guns, and a yacht, were 
immediately equipped to prosecute their enterprise. G-o- 
dyn having been informed that whales abounded at the 
mouth of the South Bay, thought that a profitable fishery 
might be carried on there, " and thereby that beautiful 
country be cultivated." So, besides a number of emi- 
grants and a large stock of cattle, to begin a colony on 
the South River, the vessels carried out whaling equip- 
ments. In the middle of December, the expedition sailed 12 Dec. 
from the Texel, with instructions to land some of their pas- sent to tiio 
sengers at the island of Tortugas, wdiich Grodyn and his cr under 
partners had contracted with sixty Frenchmen to hold for iieycs. 
them as a colony, under the States General and the West 
India Company. The command of the vessels was intrust- 
ed to Pieter Heyes, of Edam, in North Holland ; De Vries 
himself remaining at Amsterdam.*' 

The expedition was unlucky from the start. A week 20 Dec 

* Moulton, and all the writers who follow him, relying on the inaccurate translation 
of the Du Simititire MSS., erroneously represent De Vries as accompanying, in person, 
the first expedition to the South River, in December, 1630. The original work, which 
I follow, shows that the first expedition sailed from Holland under the command of Pieter 
Ileyes. On the return of Ileycs, in September, 1631, De Vries consented to go out to New 
Nelherland in person, as " patroon and commander of the vessels." He accordingly left 
the Texel, for the first time, on the 24th of May, 16."?2 ; and being delayed two months at 
Portsmouth, and four more in the West Indies, he did not reach the South River until De- 
cember, 1632.— De Vries's Voyages, p. 95-101 ; Alb. Rec, xxvi., 27, 30; post, p. 219. 



; 



•^06 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

cuAP. VII. after it sailed, the partners at Amsterdam received intel- 
ligence that, through the carelessness of the large ship, 
the yacht had been captured by a Dunkirk privateer. 
The Walvis, however, pursued her course ; and, after vis- 
iting Tortugas, which was found in possession of the Span- 
iards, conveyed her passengers to the South River, where 
1631. she arrived early the next spring. Running along the 

April. west shore of the bay, a few miles within Cape Cornelius, 
Heyes came to the Horekill, " a fine navigable stream," 
filled with islands, abounding in good oysters, and bor- 
dered by land of " exuberant fertility." Upon the bank 
of this beautiful creek, which afforded a roadstead une- 
qualed in the whole bay for safety and convenience, '* a 
brick house," to serve as a fort as well as a residence, was 
soon erected and inclosed with palisades. Gillis Hossett, 
who had acted as Van Rensselaer's agent in the purchases 

Colony es- arouud Fort Orange the previous summer, was placed in 

lahlishedat f , • i p n 

Kwaanen- charge of the settlement, which was now formally named 
" Swaanendael ;" and the Dutch title, by discovery, pur- 
chase, and occupation, was solemnly asserted by the erec- 
tion of a pillar, surmounted by a piece of tin, on which 
were emblazoned the arms of Holland. Thus, upon the 
soil of Delaware, near the present town of Lewiston, a 
Dutch colony of about thirty souls was first planted in the 
spring of 1631. The voyage of Heyes was " the cradling 
of a state."* 

5 May. After establishing the colony at Swaanendael, Heves 

Purchase of ^ "^ . ^ J 

Cape May. crosscd ovcr to tlic Jcrscy shore, and, in behalf of Godyn 
and Blommaert, purchased from ten Indian chiefs, '* the 

* De Vries, 95, 100 ; Korte Verhael van N. N. ; Vertoogh van N. N., in Hoi. Doc., iv., 
71, and in ii., N. Y. II. S. Coll., ii., 281 ; Moulton, 400 ; Bancroft, ii., 281 ; Ferris, 21, 22 ; 
Hazard, Ann. Penn., 25. Wassenaar, before referred to (ante, p. 183), states, that in the 
year 1628, the West India Company "removed all those who were on the South River." 
Peter Laurcnscn, however, in his deposition, made in 1085 ((|uoted ante, p. 160, note), 
says, that in the year 1630, he went to the Delaware, •• where the company had a trading 
house, with ten or twelve servants belonging to it, whirh the deponent himself did see. there 
settled.'" On his return to Manhattan, Laurensen slopped at the Horekill, where he " did 
also .>-ee a settlement of a brick house, belonging to the West India Company." This, 
however, must have been in the year 1031. If there were any Dutch tr.adcrs at Fort Nas- 
sau in 1030 and 1031, it is certain that there were none there in 1033. De Vries, who 
sailed up thither on the 5th of January, 1033, found " the Fort Nassau, where formerly some 
fanulies under the West India Company had dwelt," in the possession of the savages.^ 
Voyages, p. 102; post, p. 225. 



PETER MINUIT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 207 

rightful owners, proprietors, and inhabitants," a tract of chac. vii 
land, extending from Cape May twelve miles northward 
along the shore of the bay, and twelve miles inland. The 
bay itself Heyes now named " G-odyn's Bay," in compli- 
ment to his chief patron. A few weeks afterward, he vis- 3 lun. . 
ited Manhattan, in company with Hossett, and caused a 
formal record of the new purchase to be attested by ]\tinuit 
and his council.* 

Returning to Holland in the following autumn, Heyes scptnnber. 
reported his proceedings to the patroons. But though atumtonoi- 
colony had been founded at Swaanendael, the whale-fish- 
ery had proved a failure. Heyes excused his ill luck, be- 
cause " he had arrived too late in the year." But his 
owners attributed their losing voyage to the incapacity of 
their captain, who had been accustomed only to three or 
four months' absences from home at Grreenland, and who 
" dared not to sail alone through the West Indies in a 
ship of eighteen guns."t 

It is somewhat extraordinary that, in all the appropria- no Dutch 
tions of territory for patroonships, the valley of the Fresh tabi'^hedon 
River should have been neglected. Up to this period, the neotiom 
Dutch were the only Europeans who, since Adriaen Block's 
first discovery, had visited that region. As early as the 
year 1623, the West India Company's agents seem to have 
taken actual possession of the river, and to have projected 
a fort. But it appears to have been their policy to pre- 
vent the establishment of independent colonies there ; and 
complaints were afterward made respecting their "injuri- 
ous" conduct, in opposing the settlement of any Dutch 
families upon that river.l. 

English colonization had, meanwhile, been gaining 1630. 
ground on the north and east of New Netherland. In the Progi-elsof 
summer of 1630, John Winthrop, the newly-chosen gov- tion'", New 
ernor, arrived in Massachusetts Bay, with a fleet of fifteen Amlai'or 

. _ winthrop. 

* Alb. Rcc, 27-30 ; G. G., 29 ; Valentine's Manual of the N. Y. Common Council for 

1850, p. 541. This purchase is stated by Moulton (401), and by O'Callaghan (i., 125), who 

follows him, to have been made in 1630 ; but Ha/.ard, in his Annals of Penn., 27, corrects 

the error. t De Vries, 95. 

t Vertoogh van N. N., in Hoi. Doc., iv., 71, and in ii., N. Y. II. S. Coll., ii., 276, 277, 

289 ; ante, p. 153. 



208 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ciiAP. vu. ships, and more than a thousand emigrants. Winthrop, 
~ who had the charter in his custody, at first settled him- 
self, with his immediate followers, at Charlestown. But 
this position not pleasing them, they soon afterward took 
possession of the opposite peninsula, of which the Indian 
BoHton name was " Shawmut." At first it was called " Tri- 
7 sept^ mountain," on account of its three contiguous hills ; but 
it soon received the name of Boston, after the town in 
Lincolnshire, from which some of the principal emigrants 

Other had come. Other parties settled themselves at Dor- 
towns set- '■ 

ti«d. Chester, Watertown, and Newtown, now known as Cam- 
bridge. In imitation of the example of Plymouth and 
Salem, the new settlements established among themselves 
distinct churches, which admitted their own members and 
1631. chose their own officers. The next year, a form of gov- 
"■■ ernment was established in Massachusetts, upon the the- 
ocratic basis that none should be admitted to the freedom 
of the body politic, "but such as are members of some of 
the churches within the limits of this jurisdiction," It 
was not easy, however, to obtain the privilege of church 
membership. Of the whole adult population, not a fourth 
part were members. Three fourths of the people were 
Govern- thus practically disfranchised. As among themselves, the 
Massachu- minority of church members seemed thorousfhly imbued 

fietts a re- o »/ 

ligiousoii- with a spirit of equality; "but toward those not of the 
Church, they exhibited all the arrogance of a spiritual ar- 
istocracy, claiming to rule by Divine right." The elect- 
ive franchise, jealously withheld from the people, was as 
jealously confined to the members of the churches ; and 
the civil polity, which Massachusetts thus deliberately 
adopted, was an oligarchy of select religious votaries.* 

Now )>iym- Tlio populatiou of New Plymouth had, by this time, in- 
creased to nearly three hundred ; and, through the agency 
1630. of Lord Warwick and Sir Ferdinando Gorges, the colony 

fj Ja" had obtained a new and ample patent from the council for 
New England. This instrument defined their boundaries 

* Ancient Charters, 117 ; Uancrofl, 1., 360 ; Hildreth, i., 190 ; Stor>''s Miscellanieo, 64- 
68. The restriction of the franchise to church members was not repealed until 16«J5. 



PETER MINUIT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 209 

as extending from the Cohassett River on the north, to the chap. vh. 

Narragansett River on the south, and inland, westwardly, 

to " the utmost limits of Pokenakut, alias Sowamset."* AbdU. 

The complaints which Bradford had sent to England 
against the traffic of the Dutch and other strangers with 
the Indians, had already attracted the attention of Grorges 
and Mason. Similar complaints from Endicott induced 
the general court of Massachusetts to petition the Privy 
Council to reform " so great and insufferable abuses." The 24 Nov. 
result was a royal proclamation, "forbidding the disorder- lamauon 

• 1 1 • -ivT T-i 1 1 11 TIT restraining 

ly tradmg with the savages m JNew England." No per- irregular 

i-iii •1/--HTT-1 traders to 

sons, except those authorized by the council for New En- New En- 

^ •' gland. 

gland, were to frequent those coasts, or trade with the na- 
tives, or intermeddle with the English planters or inhab- 
itants, or teach the Indians the use of fire-arms, under pain 
of the king's high displeasure, and the penalties expressed 
in the proclamation of King James, in 1622. t 

Thus far, the New England colonies had not encroach- 
ed upon the territories claimed by the Dutch. The Mas- Extent or 
sachusetts patent included, indeed, within its sweeping England 
grant of land as far west as the Pacific, a portion of the ments. 
northern regions of New Netherland. But the infant set- 
tlements at Salem, and near Boston, were confined to the 
sea-coasts north of New Plymouth ; and the Hollanders 
had already tacitly admitted the jurisdiction of the " Old 
Colony" to extend as far south and west as Narragansett 
Bay. All the coasts and inland regions, however, from 
that bay, as far south as Cape Hinlopen, and as far north 
as Canada, were claimed by the Dutch as rightfully be- 
longing to New Netherland. During the pleasant inter- 
course which was opened with New Plymouth in 1627, 
the Hollanders, seeing that the Puritans were there seated 
"in barren quarter," with friendly purpose told them of aTheDmoh 
river, " called by them the Fresh River, but is now known Puritans of 
by the name of Conighticute River, which they often com- nectirut 
mended to them for a fine place both for plantation and 

* Chalmers, 97 ; Prince, 196-198; Hazard, i., 298; Hildreth, i., 174- 
t Young, Ch. Mass., 84 ; Rymer Federa, xix., 210 ; Hazard, j., SU. 





210 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. VII. trade, and wished them to make use of it." But the hands 
~~7~of the New Plymouth colonists "being full otherwise, they 
let it pass."*" In thus inviting the English to settle them- 
selves within the territory of New Netherland, Minuit 
could have had no intention to surrender any of the char- 
tered rights of the West India Company, or to raise a doubt 
respecting their title, which he had so stoutly maintained 
in his correspondence with Bradford. If the New Plym- 
outh people had accepted Minuit's proposition, they could 
have settled themselves on the Connecticut only in due 
allegiance to the States Greneral, and in subordination to 
the Company's authorities at Manhattan. 

The fame of the "pleasant meadows" on the Fresh Riv- 
er soon reached the young hamlets on the Massachusetts 

1631. Bay. In the first spring after his arrival, Winthrop was 
A t\)nnec- visited by one of the Mahican sachems upon the " River 
chem^asits Q,uonehtacut," who extolled the fruitfulness of his coun- 
try, and urged the English to come and plant themselves 
there. But Winthrop, though he treated the sachem kind- 
ly, would send none of his people to explore the country, 
which " was not above five days' journey" from Boston. 
The intentions of the sachem were soon unveiled. He was 
at war with the Pequods, and desired a European settle- 
ment as a defense against his powerful enemies.! At New 
Plymouth the suggestion was better appreciated. The sa- 
chem's story confirmed the accounts which they had be- 
fore received from the Dutch ; and Edward Winslow, vis- 

1632. itiiig that region in 1632, verified these favorable reports 
vlsi'ts'°he by his own observation, and even " pitched upon a place 

for a house."1: But the people of New Plymouth, know- 
ing that the Connecticut valley was beyond the bounds of 
their patent, took no immediate measures to plant a set- 
tlement there. 

Wliile the colonial authorities of New Netherland and 
New England were thus all postponing actual occupation, 
a questionable English title to the territory was obtained 

* Bradford, MS. in Hutch., ii., App., 416 ; Prince, 434. 

t Savage's Winthrop, i., 52. 

t Morton's Mem., App., 395 ; Hutch., i., 148 ; Trumbull, i., 30. 



Connect i- 



PETER MINUIT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 211 

by other parties. Saltonstall, who had accompanied Win- chap. vii. 
throp to Massachusetts, returning to England in the spring 
of 1631, carried home with him the glowing accounts 29 Apru. 
which he had heard of the fruitfulness of the Connecticut 
vallev- Through his exertions, the Earl of Warwick wasTheEarioi 

11.1 in T 1 Warwick's 

mduced, early the next year, to grant and confirm to Lord Bram of 
iSav and Seal, Lord Brook, Saltonstall himself, and others, <■"' 
all the territory extending forty leagues to the southwest ^j^f^^^' 
of the Narragansett River, and by the same breadth 
" throughout the main lands there, from the Western 
Ocean to the South Sea." The territory thus conveyed 
is alleged to have been granted to Lord Warwick, by the 
council for New England, in 1630 ; and Warwick's sub- 
sequent conveyance has been considered by American his- 
torians as the original English charter for Connecticut. 
But no evidence of the grant to Lord Warwick has ever 
been produced : if such a grant was really made, it does 
not appear to have been confirmed by the king. Thus 
stood the question of right and title between the Dutch 
West Lidia Company, by virtue of Block's first discovery 
and of their charter, and the English proprietaries of Con- 
necticut, by virtue of Lord Warwick's conveyance. But 
no steps were taken by these proprietaries to colonize that Lord war- 
territory, until several years after the end of Minuit's gi'antees 

•^ ' *' neglect col- 

government of New Netherland ; though the commence- omzation. 
ment of his successor's administration was destined to wit- 
ness the first disagreement between rival Dutch and En- 
glish settlers on the banks of the Fresh River.* 

The attention of Director Minuit had been, meanwhile. Affairs at 
chiefly confined to the prosecution of the fur-trade for the 
benefit of the West India Company, and to the domestic 
affairs of the chief colony at Manhattan. No subordinate 

* Tlie date of Lord Warwick's conveyance to Lord Say and Seal, and his assoiiiites, has 
been erroneously stated to be in the year lO.Sl . Its actual date, according to the new style, 
was 1632. The "seventh year" of Charles I., in which it is attested, was from the 27lh of 
March, 1631, to the 27th of March, 1632. Saltonstall was not in England on the 19th of 
March, 1631. What purports to be a copy of Lord Warwick's " charter" is in the Secre- 
tary's office at Hartford, from which was taken the copy in Trumbull, i., A[ip., 495. Ncal 
and Douglas speak of a previous grant from the council of New England to Lord War- 
wick, which was confirmed by the king. But Chalmers (p. 299) shows that there is no 
evidence to support this statement. 



212 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. VII. patroons ever exercised any jurisdiction over the reserved 
. island : the West India Company alone was the territorial 

proprietary. After De Rasieres " fell into disgrace" with 
Minuit, his place as provincial secretary and keeper of the 
company's pay-books, was filled by Jan van Remund, who 
continued to hold these offices for several years. In 1629 

Imports and 1630, the imports from Amsterdam arose to the value 

and ex- ^ 

ports. of one hundred and thirteen thousand guilders ; while the 
exports from Manhattan exceeded one hundred and thirty 
thousand guilders, showing a considerable balance in favor 
of the company. Its admirable commercial situation in- 

Eariy pro- dicatcd its futurc renown ; and its ships, which now car- 

ficiency in . 

ship build- rv the fame of its naval architects to the ends of the earth, 

ing. "^ 

even at that early day had begun to attract the attention 

and excite the envy of England. In the year 1631, the 

Great ship " New Nctherland," a ship variously estimated at from 

" New ^ "^ 

Nether- " 600 tunnes, or thereabouts," to eisrht hundred tons, was 

land" built ' ' & ' 

at Mauhat- built at Manhattan, and dispatched to Holland.* This 
ship was not only by far the largest that had ever been 
built in America, but it was probably one of the greatest 
merchant vessels at that time in the world. It was not 
until nearly two centuries afterward that the ship-wrights 
of Manhattan again began to build trading vessels which 
rivaled the mammoth proportions of the pioneer ship " New 
Nctherland." 

Fort Or- At Fort Orange, Vice-director Krol continued to super- 
intend the fur-trade of the company, which was annually 
growing more important. The subdued Mahicans had 
three years before been expelled from the valley of the 
North River ; and the victorious Mohawks were glad to 
cultivate the most friendly relations with the Dutch set- 
tlers, by whom they now began to be supplied with the 
fire-arms of Holland. 

While the new patroons were vigorously commencing 

* Letter of Mason, 2d April, 1632, Lond. Doc, i., 47 ; N. Y. Col. MSS., iii., 17. De Vries, 
p. 96, speaks of the " New Netherland" as " the great ship that was built in New Ncth- 
erland." De Laet, App., p. 4, describes her as of four hundred lasts, or eight hundred tons 
burden, and as carrying thirty guns. The building of this ship, " at an excessive outlay," 
was afterward severely criticised, by Van der Donck, as a part of the " bad management" 
of the West India Company.— Vertoogh van N. N., in ii., N. Y. H. S. Coll., ii., 289. 



anae. 



PETER MINUIT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 213 

agricultural colonization on the North and South Rivers, chap. vii. 
they determined, under a liberal construction of the char- 
ter of Freedoms and Exemptions, to participate in the re- ^^e pa. * 
served traffic with the Indians. Pleading that the Amster- et°a "hare 
dam Chamber "had no factories" at certain points, the pa- traoL! "^""^ 
troons assumed that they had the right to engage in the 
peltry trade, which the company had certainly intended to 
retain in its own hands. But the directors, already iealous The direct- 

•^ *" ors at vari- 

of their colleagues, who had secured such ample estates, ance with 

'^ ' _ ^ 'the pa- 

could not quietly permit their darling monopoly to be thus *'?°"''-, 

invaded. Articles were soon prepared, limiting and re- 
straining the privileges of the patroons, in respect of the 
fur trade, to an extent which excited their bitter com- 
plaints ; the charter of Freedoms and Exemptions itself 
was attacked, and " drawn into dispute ;" and feeling ran 
so strongly against all who were supposed to favor the 
pretensions of the new colonial proprietaries, that Minuit, 
with whose knowledge and approbation these large appro- 
priations of territory had been secured, was recalled from Minuu re- 
his directorship. But no saiccessor was immediately ap- 
pointed, and the post of director remained vacant for more 
than a year. Lampo, the sellout at Manhattan, was, how- 
ever, superseded at once by the appointment of Conrad 
Notelman, who sailed for New Netherland late in the 
summer, in the ship Eendragt, bearing with him Minuit's August, 
letters of recall.* 

Upon the arrival of Notelman, Director Minuit resigned 
his government into the hands of the council, at the head 
of which was Van Remund, who had acted as secretary 
of the province since the departure of De Rasieres. Em- 
barking on board the Eendragt, with several families of Minuit re- 
colonists who were anxious to return to Holland, the re- iiouand. 
called director and superseded schout set sail from New lt»d^. 

1 March. 

Netherland early in the spring of 1632. 

The Eendragt reached the channel in safety, but stress His ship ar- 
of weather drove her into Plymouth. Her arrival there Plymouth. 
' was no sooner known, than the watchful jealousy of Cap- 

* Hoi. Doc, i., 185 ; ii., 102, 103 ; Renss. MSS. ; O'Call., i., 130, 431. 



212 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. VII. patroons ever exercised any jurisdiction over the reserved 
island : the West India Company alone was the territorial 
proprietary. After De Rasieres " fell into disgrace" with 
Minuit, his place as provincial secretary and keeper of the 
company's pay-books, was filled by Jan van Remund, who 
continued to hold these offices for several years. In 1629 

Imports and 1630, the imports from Amsterdam arose to the value 

and ex- ^ 

ports. of one hundred and thirteen thousand guilders ; while the 
exports from Manhattan exceeded one hundred and thirty 
thousand guilders, showing a considerable balance in favor 
of the company. Its admirable commercial situation in- 

Eariy pro- dicatcd its futurc renown ; and its ships, which now car- 

ficiency in ' i ' 

ship build- ry the fame of its naval architects to the ends of the earth, 

ing. •' _ ' 

even at that early day had begun to attract the attention 

and excite the envy of England. In the year 1631, the 

Great ship " New Ncthcrland," a ship variously estimated at from 

Nether- " 600 tunucs, or tlicreabouts," to eisfht hundred tons, was 

land" built ' ' & ' 

at Maiihat- built at Manhattan, and dispatched to Holland.* This 
ship was not only by far the largest that had ever been 
built in America, but it was probably one of the greatest 
merchant vessels at that time in the world. It was not 
until nearly two centuries afterward that the ship-wrights 
of Manhattan again began to build trading vessels which 
rivaled the mammoth proportions of the pioneer ship " New 
Netherland." 

Fort Or- At Fort Orange, Vice-director Krol continued to super- 
intend the fur-trade of the company, which was annually 
growing more important. The subdued Mahicans had 
three years before been expelled from the valley of the 
North River ; and the victorious Mohawks were glad to 
cultivate the most friendly relations with the Dutch set- 
tlers, by whom they now began to be supplied with the 
fire-arms of Holland. 

While the new patroons were vigorously commencing 

* Letter of Mason, 2d April, 1632, Lond. Doc, i., 47 ; N. Y. Col. MSS., iii., 17. De Vries, 
p. 96, speaks of the " New Netherland" as " the great ship that wa.s built in New Neth- 
erland." De Lact, App., p. 4, describes her as of four hundred lasts, or eight hundred tons 
burden, and as carrying thirty guns. The building of this ship, " at an excessive outlay," 
was afterward severely criticised, by Van der Donck, as a part of the " bad management" 
of the West India Company.— Vertoogh van N. N., in ii., N. Y. II. S. Coll., ii., 289. 



ange 



PETER MINUIT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 213 

agricultural colonization on the North and South Rivers, chap. vii. 
they determined, under a liberal construction of the char- 
ter of Freedoms and Exemptions, to participate in the re- ^i.e ,,a. 
served traffic with the Indians. Pleading that the Amster- et°a'share 
dam Chamber "had no factories" at certain points, the pa- °rade. '"" 
troons assumed that they had the right to engage in the 
peltry trade, which the company had certainly intended to 
retain in its own hands. But the directors, already iealous TUe airect- 

•' •' ors at van- 

of their colleas^ues, who had secured such ample estates, ance wuii 

^ ' _ _ '■ the pa- 

could not quietly permit their darling monopoly to be thus 3[,°Q"jJyhg^ 

invaded. Articles were soon prepared, limiting and re- 
straining the privileges of the patroons, in respect of the 
fur trade, to an extent which excited their bitter com- 
plaints ; the charter of Freedoms and Exemptions itself 
was attacked, and " drawn into dispute ;" and feeling ran 
.so strongly against all who were supposed to favor the 
pretensions of the new colonial proprietaries, that Minuit, 
with whose knowledge and approbation these large appro- 
priations of territory had been secured, was recalled from Minuit re- 

r_ -^ . ,. , called. 

his directorship. But no siiccessor was immediately ap- 
pointed, and the post of director remained vacant for more 
than a year. Lampo, the sellout at Manhattan, was, how- 
ever, superseded at once by the appointment of Conrad 
Notelman, who sailed for New Netherland late in the 
summer, in the ship Eendragt, bearing with him Minuit's August. 
letters of recall.* 

Upon the arrival of Notelman, Director Minuit resigned 
his government into the hands of the council, at the head 
of which was Van Remund, who had acted as secretary 
of the province since the departure of De Rasieres. Em- 
barking on board the Eendragt, with several families of Minuit re- 
colonists who were anxious to return to Holland, the re- iiouand. 
called director and superseded schout set sail from New 1"*^^- 

'■ March. 

Netherland early in the spring of 1632. 

The Eendragt reached the channel in safety, but stress iiis ship ar- 
of weather drove her into Plymouth. Her arrival there Plymouth. 
' was no sooner known, than the watchful jealousy of Cap- 

* Hoi. Doc, i., 185 ; ii., 102, 103 ; Renss. MSB. ; O'CaU., i., 130, 431. 



216 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. VII. being free, might trade with whomsoever they pleased. 
The King of England might, indeed, grant exclusive priv- 
ileges to his own subjects, and so might the States Gen- 
eral to theirs. But it was unjust for any power to at- 
tempt to exclude all the rest of the world from regions 
which their own subjects had never occupied ; and still 
more so, for England to claim sovereignty over territories 
of which the Dutch had obtamed the title, by treaty and 
honest purchase from the native owners. The States Gren- 
eral must maintain their own sovereignty, the freedom of 
the seas, and the validity of the treaties which the Hol- 
landers had made with the unsubjugated tribes of North 
America.* 
5 May. Tliis able vindication of the Dutch title was immediate- 

ly sent by the States G-eneral to their ambassadors at Lon- 
don, with fresh instructions to press for the release of the 
ship, and an intimation that the right of the West India 
Company to trade to New Netherland should be main- 
tained.! 

But English nationality was now thoroughly aroused, 
22 May. In a fcw days, the Dutch ambassadors received the formal 
Answer of answcr of thc British ministry to their memorial. The 
govern- roamiug savages of America were not "bona fide possessors" 
of the land, so that they could alienate it ; and if they were, 
it could not be proved " that all the savages had contracted 
with the purchasers ;" these were the technical objections 
to the Dutch title by purchase. The title of the English 
was asserted to be by "first discovery, occupation, and pos- 
session," and by charters and patents from their sovereigns. 
Such patents the States G-eneral had never passed to their 
own subjects, as was proved when Carleton, the English 
ambassador, made his remonstrance in 1621. If the Dutch 
now settled in America would " submit themselves as sub- 
jects to his majesty's government," they might remain in 
New Netherland ; otherwise, his majesty's interests would 
not allow them to " usurp and encroach upon a colony of 

* Hoi. Doc, i., 209. t Ibid., 218. 



PETER MINUIT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 217 

such importance, and which he has strong motives to cher- chap. vii. 
ish and maintain in its integrity."* 

Thus the British ministry boldly denied the Dutch title "*' " 
to New Netherland, and claimed it as English territory. 
Their strenuous assertion of superior British right was 
probably the last important American State Paper prepared 
by Sir John Coke,t whom Lord Clarendon describes as "a 
man of a very narrow education, and a narrower nature." 
Unwilling, at that moment, to embarrass his foreign rela- 
tions, already sufficiently complicated, Charles I. content- 
ed himself with a bold claim of sovereignty over New 
Netherland, and did not appear anxious to press the ques- 
tion of title to a settlement. In a few days, the confident 
note of the British ministry was followed by an act of 27 May. 

'' . . '' . The ship 

grace ; and the Lord Treasurer, quietly yielding to the released, 
reiterated demand of the Dutch ambassadors, released the 
Eendragt from arrest, " saving any prejudice to His Maj- 
esty's rights."^ 

Notwithstanding the abuses which had induced Minuit's Minuii'« 

11 1 • 1 • • ■ c 1 c TVT TVT- 1 adminis- 

recall, his admmistration 01 the government 01 New Neth-trationor 

New Neth- 
erland was, upon the whole, prosperous and successful, eriand. 

Honest purchase had secured Manhattan Island to the 
West India Company; industry had llourished around the 
walls of Fort Amsterdam ; the western shore of Long Isl- 
and had become studded with the cottages of its early 
Walloon settlers ; a pleasant intercourse had been opened 
with the English colonists at New Plymouth ; friendly 
relations had been generally maintained with the Indian 
tribes ; the colonization of Rensselaerswyck and Swaanen- 
(lael had been commenced; and the trade and commerce 
of the province had largely increased. During the six 
years of Minuit's directorship, the exports from New Neth- 
erland were trebled. The value of the commodities sent 

* IIol. Doc, i., 236. The correspondence on this subject may be found at length in the 
Address before the N. Y. 11. S., in 1844, p. 27-31, and in O'Call., i., 131-130. 

t About a month after this dispatch— on the 15th of June— Mr. (afterward Sir Francis) 
Windebanke was appointed Secretary of State, through the interest of Bishop Laud. Sir 
.Tohn Coke continued to be one of the secretaries for a few years longer ; but the concerns 
of the American colonies seem to have been managed, after this time, chiefly by Winde- 
banke. J Hoi. Doc, i., 244. 



218 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. VII. home in 1626 was about forty-six thousand guilders ; in 
1632, it had increased to more than one hundred and for- 
ty-three thousand guilders. Within the same period, the 
value of the imports from Holland was a little over two 
hundred and thirty-eight thousand guilders, while the 
gross value of the exports from New Netherland exceeded 
four hundred and thirty-five thousand guilders. The ship 
in which the Director returned to Amsterdam brought to 
the company's warehouse a cargo of five thousand beaver 
skins.* 
Continued Miuuit's retum to Holland did not quiet the unfortunate 
between differences between the West India Company and the pa- 
ny and the troous. Tlic large appropriations of territory were not as 
exasperating causes of irritation as was the pertinacious 
interference of the patroons with the fur trade, which the 
company had intended to reserve to itself. To arrest the 
encroachments of the new manorial lords, who claimed, 
under the charter, the largest freedom of traffic '" within 
>< June. the territories of their patroonships," the company issued a 
proclamation, forbidding all "private" persons in New 
Netherland from dealing, in any way, in sewan, peltries, 
or maize. The patroons instantly protested against this 
decided step, and insisted that, according to the charter, 
they were "privileged," and not "private" persons. But 
the company, resolute to maintain its superior monopoly, 
18 Nov. soon afterward dispatched commissaries into the different 
nists for- patroouships, with orders to post the proclamation, and to 

bidden to ,,. ni i- i ij i j_ ■ r 

trade in oblige all the colonists, under oath, to abstam irom any 
interference with the interdicted traffic! 
1631. Meanwhile, the colony which Heyes had established at 
Swaanendael had gone on pleasantly, for a time, under 
the superintendence of Gillis Hossett ; and De Vries him- 
self had prepared to visit New Netherland. Heyes's un- 
lucky voyage damped, for awhile, the ardor of his em- 
iroo ploy^^^ 5 ^^* ^^^^ vision of a profitable whale-fishery still 
12 Feb. haunted Godyn. Early in the year 1632, a new arrange- 

* De Laet, App., 26-30 ; Hoi. Doc, i., 210. 
t IIol. Doc, ii., 95, 105-114 ; O'Call., i., 137. 



Affair.s at 
Swaanen 
dael. 



PETER MINUIT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 219 

ment was made between the partner-patroons, to equip chap. vii 
another ship and yacht, with which De Vries himself was ~ 
to go out to the South River, as " patroon and command- 
er," and test the experiment in person, during the next 
winter. The expedition accordingly left the Texel toward 
the end of May. But just before it sailed, news brought 24 May. 
by Minuit, from Manhattan, reached Amsterdam, that the destruction 
colony at Swaanendael had been destroyed by the savages, Holland. 
and thirty-two men killed outside of the fort, as they were 
working in the fields.* 

In sadness and disappointment De Vries proceeded on De vries 
his way. But misfortune still attended the enterprise of me souui 

- . River. 

the South River patroons. An unskillful pilot ran the 
ship on the sands off Dunkirk ; and the leaky vessel was 
navigated with difficulty to Portsmouth, where she went 28 May. 
into the " King's Dock" to be repaired. After two months' 
delay, De Vries set sail again, in company with the " great 1 Augn-st 
ship New Netherland," which had been built at Manliat- 
tan, and was now making her first return voyage from 
Holland. Running southwardly by Madeira, and linger- 
ing three months among the "West India Islands, De Vries 
arrived, early in December, at the South River, and an- 5 Dec. 
chored off Swaanendael, where he promised himself "roy- 
al work" with the whales, and a "beautiful land" to cul- 
tivate. 

The next day, a well-armed boat was sent into the kill e Dec. 

*' . . . Visits 

to open a communication with the savages. Reaching; ^"■'^""cn- 
the spot where their little fort had been, they found the 
house itself destroyed, the palisades almost all burned, and 
the ground around bestrewn with the skulls and bones 
of their murdered countrymen, intermingled with the re- 
mains of horses and cattle. The silence of the jn-ave huno^ 
over the desolate valley. Not a savage was seen lurking 
about the ghastly ruins. Gloomy and sorrowful, De Vries 
returned on board his yacht, and ordered a gun to be fired 
to attract the inland Indians. 

* De Vries, 95 ; Deposition of A. D. Korn, in Deed Book, vii. ; and in Doc. Hist. N. Y., 
iii., 49 ; ante, p. 205, note. 



220 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



1632. 

7 Dec. 



Chap. vii. A smoke was seen, the next morning, near their devasta- 
ted post. Again the boat was sent into the creek, and two 
or three savages were observed prowling among the ruins. 
But mutual distrust prevented any intercourse. Fearful 

8 Dec. of the arrows of the Indians, De Vries now took his yacht 
into the creek, to give a better shelter than the open boat 
afforded. The savages soon came down to the shore ; but 
none, at first, would venture on board. At last one made 
bold to come ; and De Vries, presenting him with a cloth 
dress, sent word to the chief that he wished to make a 

An Indian pcacc. That ui^jht one of the savages remained on board 

relates the ^ ^ ^ 

story of the the yaclit, and was prevailed on to relate the catastrophe 
ofswaan- which had befallen the colony. Pointing out the spot 
where Heyes had set up the pillar bearing the tin plate 
with the arms of Holland, he said, that one of their chiefs, 
not thinking he was doing amiss, had taken down the 
glittering metal, to make it into tobacco pipes. But Hos- 
sett, who was then in charge of the post, made such an 
ado, that the savages, to hush up the affair, slew the chief 
who had done it, " and brought a token" of their deed to 
the Dutch commander. Hossett told them they had done 
wrong : they should have brought the chief to the post, 
when he would have been simply forbidden to repeat the 
offense. But the mischief was already done. The friends 
of the slaughtered savage instigated their companions to 
a bloody vengeance on the unsuspecting strangers. A 
party of warriors soon visited the settlement, where they 
found most of the colonists at work in the fields, having 
left one sick man at home, and a large English mastiff 
chained up. Had the dog been loose, " they would not 
have dared to approach the house." Hossett, the com- 
mander, stood near the door. Three of the boldest sav- 
ages, under pretense of bartering some beaver skins, en- 
tered the house with him, and, as he was coming down 
stairs from the garret, where the stores lay, struck him 
dead with an axe. They then killed the sick man ; and 
going to the place where the dog, "which they feared the 
most," lay chained, they shot him " with full five-and- 



PETER MINUIT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 221 

twenty arrows, before he was dispatched." The rest of chap. vii 
the colonists, who were scattered over the fields at work, 
were then approached under the guise of friendship, and, 
one by one, all were murdered. 

Such was the awful narrative which one of the spoilers 
of Swaanendael related to De Vries. The bones of his 
countrymen marked the spot where the patroon had hoped 
to establish a ilourishing colony. Thus early was the soil 
of Delaware moistened by European blood. The Dutch 
possession was " sealed with blood, and dearly enough 
bought." But what could now be done ? A barren venge- 
ance alone could follow retaliation against the roaming 
savaores. So a formal peace was ratified the next day, by o !>«'■• 

. J ' J Peace made 

presents of duffels, bullets, hatchets, and Nuremburg toys ; with the 
and the astonished red men " departed in great joy," to 
hunt beavers for the Hollanders, who, instead of exacting 
a cruel retribution, had quietly let pass their inhuman of- 
fense.* 

* De Vries, 95-101 ; Vertoogh van N. N., in IIoI. Doc., iv., 71 ; and in ii., N. Y. H. S. 
Coll., ii., 281. 



222 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

1633-1637. 

• HAr.viii. New Netherland had now been, for more than a year, 
coo without a director. The experiment of introducing a mod- 
New Neth- ifi^d fcudal systcm into the province had just been com- 
without a menced ; jealousies had already sprung up between the pa- 
ciirecfor. ^j-QQi^^g ^qJ the Wcst India Company, and embarrassment 
was evidently in store ; the British government had again 
boldly denied the Dutch title to any part of New Nether- 
land ; and English colonists, firm of purpose and zealous 
in faith, were preparing to take actual possession of por- 
tions of the territory, over the whole of which their sover- 
eign claimed an exclusive jurisdiction. In this crisis, the 
administration of the affairs of the Dutch province should 
have been intrusted only to the ablest hands. But when 
did a commercial monopoly ever govern a country wise- 
wouier ly ? The person selected to succeed Peter Minuit as Di- 
i.'r appoint- rcctor G-cucral of New Netherland, was Wouter van Twil- 
ccedMin- LER, of Nieuwkcrkc, ouc of the clerks in the West India 
Company's warehouse at Amsterdam. He had married a 
niece of Van Rensselaer, and had been employed by the 
patroon in shipping cattle to his colony. These were Van 
Twiller's recommendations : the influence of kinsmen and 
friends, rather than acknowledged administrative ability, 
secured for him the most important colonial office under 
the West India Company. The new director was inexpe- 
rienced, except in the details of trade which he had learn- 
ed in the counting-room. Incompetent, narrow-minded, 
irresolute, and singularly deficient in knowledge of men, 
Van T wilier was rashly intrusted with the command of 



WOUTER VAN TWILLER, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 223 

a province. But interest — which, rather than considera-CKAP.viii. 
tions of personal fitness, so often controls puhlic appoint- 
ments — triumphed over all objections. Embarking in the 
company's ship " Soutberg," of twenty guns, with a mili- 
tary force of one hundred and four soldiers, the raw Am- 
sterdam clerk set sail to assume the government of New 
Netherland. 

Van Twiller arrived at Manhattan early in the spring, April. 
the ship havmg captured, on her voyage, a Spanish cara- ler arrives. 
vel, the Saint Martin, which was brought safely into port. tan. ' 
Among the Soutberg's passengers were Jacob van Cou- 
wenhoven, and his brother-in-law, G-overt Loockermans, 
both of whom were soon taken into the company's service, 
and afterward rose to distinction in the province. Ever- Evcrardus 

liogarilus. 

ardus Bosfardus, the first clerofyman at Manhattan, andtueiirst 

clergyman 

Adam Roelandsen, schoolmaster, came out from Holland 
at the same time.* 

The new director commenced his administration, assist- 
ed by the experience of Secretary Van Remund and Schout 
Notelman. The council consisted of Jacob Jansen Hesse, Provincial 

-_._,. »i-TTii IT T> council and 

Martm (xerritsen, Andries Hudde, and Jacques Bentyn. oiucers. 
Cornells van Tienhoven, of Utrecht, was made the com- 
pany's book-keeper of monthly wages at Fort Amsterdain ; 
and Sebastian Jansen Krol was succeeded in the command 
at Fort Orange by Hans Jorissen Houten, who had trad- 
ed on the river in 1621. Michael Paulusen was commis- conmiiss:i- 
sary of Pauw's " colonic" at Pavonia.t ma. 

In their management of New Netherland, the "West In- unwise co- 
dia Company seem to have looked rather to the immedi-cyoVnie 

r 1-11 • ^ 1 • r • 11 West India 

ate pronts which they might derive from its trade, than to company 
the permanent political interests of the province. Those 
interests woukl have been best secured by the prompt col- 
onization of the country with free agricultural emigrants, 
bringing along with them the industrious habits and the 
simple virtues of their Fatherland. During the first years 

* De Vrles, 113 ; De Laet, App., 5 ; Hoi. Doc, v., 396, 399 ; Alb. Rec, i., 52, 107 ; ii., 
328; Renss. MSS. ; O'Call., i., 142 ; 11., N. Y. II. S. Coll., ii., 338, 339. 

t De Vries, 116 ; IIol. Doc, ii., 88 ; vlli., 32 ; ix., 187. " Paulus' Hook," now Jersey 
City, derived its name from tUls Michael Paulusen, the commissary at Pavonia. 



224 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. VIII. of their organization, the company had, indeed, done some- 
thing toward the agricultural settlement of New Nether- 
land. But their policy was soon changed. Unwisely sur- 
rendering to subordinate patroons the care of subduing and 
cultivating the soil, the company seemed to limit their 
own views to the improvement of their revenue, and the 
jealous maintenance of their trading monopoly. They 
seemed anxious "to stock the land with their own serv- 
ants." This was the cardinal error which, for so many 
years, retarded the progress and blighted the prosperity of 
the province. 

Revenue Tlic temptation, indeed, was strong. During the year 

fro in Wcw 

Nether- 1632, the cxports of furs from New Netherland had ex- 
ceeded in value one hundred and forty thousand guilders. 
This revenue formed, it is true, an inconsiderable item in 
the grand total of the company's yearly income. But it 
would probably improve by careful management ; and to 
this end the efforts of the Amsterdam Chamber were chief- 
ly bent. Its mercantile directors viewed New Netherland 
rather commercially than politically, and exhibited them- 
selves as selfish traders, rather than enlightened states- 
men. They authorized large expenditures in building 
forts and mills, and for " unnecessary things, which, un- 
der more favorable circumstances, might have been suit- 
able and very proper." But in making these expendi- 
tures, they seemed to have had " more regard for their 
own interest than for the welfare of the country."* Pow- 
erful and successful as the West India Company had now 
unquestionably become, its directors displayed far less sa- 
gacity in the management of their American province, 
than in the conduct of their naval war with Spain. 
Character Van Twillcr's chisf objects seem to have been the main- 
Twiiier's teuancc and extension of the commercial monopoly of his 
tion. principals. In many respects he was, perhaps, then* faith- 
ful representative. He was acquainted with trade ; but 
he was ignorant of public affairs. From the dealing with 

* Journal van N. N., in Hoi. Doc, iii., 97 ; Vertoogh van N. N., in Hoi. Doc, iv., 71 ; 
and in ii., N. Y. H. S. Coll., ii., 288, 298 ; De Laet, App., 30. 



WOUTER VAN TWILI.ER, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 225 

wares, and the shipping of cattle, he had been suddenly chap.viii. 
exalted to the command of men, and the management of 
a province. It was only natural that, from the moment 
he began to administer the government of New Nether- 
land, Van Twiller should have given constant proofs of the 
folly and danger of intrusting to inexperienced and incom- 
petent hands the interests of a community and the well- 
being of a state. 

In the mean time, De Vries, after concluding a peace De vries at 
with the savages at Swaanendael, had endeavored to re-daei. 
trieve his damaged fortunes, by establishing a whale-fish- 
ery on the South River. But provisions soon began to i January. 
run short ; and, in hopes of obtaining supplies of beans 
from the savages, he went up the river through the float- 
ing ice, in his yacht, "the Squirrel," as far as Fort Nassau. Goes up to 
That post, " where formerly some families of the West India sau. 
Company had dwelt," was now deserted by the Hollanders. 
Here De Vries found some savages, who urged him to go 5 January. 
up the Timmer Kill, or Timber Creek. But a Sankitan or 
Stankekan Indian warned the Dutch not to venture into the 
creek ; for the savages were only plotting to destroy them, 
as they had a little while before murdered the crew of an 
English shallop, which had gone into " Count Ernest's Riv- 
er." The Squirrel's small crew of seven men, therefore, 
stood on their guard. At the mouth of the Timmer Kill, e January 
more than forty savages from Mantes, or Red Hook, came 
on board, offering to barter beaver skins, and playing on 
reeds, to lull suspicion. But De Vries, observing that 
some of them wore the jackets of the slaughtered English- 
men, ordered them all on shore, declaring that their " Ma- 
neto" had revealed their treacherous designs ; and the yacht 
dropped down again to Fort Nassau. Here the chiefs s January. 
of nine different tribes came on board ; some of whom 
had worn English jackets at the Timmer Kill. These 
they had now replaced by robes of fur. Sitting down in Treaty 
a circle on the yacht's deck, the chiefs declared that they di 
had come to make a lasting peace ; and a present of ten 
beaver skins, each accompanied with Indian ceremony, 

P 



with the 
dians. 



226 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



1633. 

13 January, 



18 January 
De Vries 
revisits 
Fort Nas- 
sau. 



3 Feb. 



5 March. 
Sails for 
Virginia. 

8 March. 



11 March. 
Reception 
by (Jovern- 
or llarvey. 



ratified their formal treaty with the Dutch. After ohtain- 
ing a small supply of heans and corn, and purchasing some 
beaver skins, De Vries returned to his ship off Swaan- 
endael.* 

A few days afterward, the yacht again ascended the 
river. After remaining a fortnight frozen up in "Vine- 
yard Creek," the beautiful banks of which abounded in 
wild grape-vines, and shooting multitudes of wild turkeys, 
" weighing from thirty to thirty-six pounds," De Vries at 
length reached Fort Nassau once more. But the Minquas 
were now at war with the Sankitans, and no provisions 
could be obtained. So making the best of her way through 
the floating ice, the yacht rejoined the ship, whose crew 
were overjoyed to meet once more their adventurous com- 
rades. De Vries now resolved to go for supplies to Vir- 
ginia, where he thought that corn could be more readily 
obtained than at Fort Amsterdam. vSupposing that no 
Dutch vessel from New Netherland had yet gone to the 
Chesapeake, the patroon was ambitious to be " the first 
Hollander from this quarter to visit that region."! 

In three days, De Vries reached Cape Henry. As he 
sailed up the James K,iver, he saw, every where, beautiful 
gardens stocked with Provence roses, and apple, and cher- 
ry, and pear, and peach trees, blossoming around the houses. 
Arrived at Jamestown, he was welcomed by Sir John Har- 
vey, the governor, who came down to the beach, attended 
by a guard of halberdiers and musketeers. " Whence 
come you ?" was the friendly challenge. " From the South 
Bay of New Netherland," the prompt reply. " How far 
is that from our Bay ?" demanded the governor. " About 
ninety miles," replied the Dutch patroon. Inviting De 
Vries into his house, and pledging him in a "Venice glass 
of sack," Harvey produced an English chart, on which he 
pointed out the South Bay, " named by them my liord 



* De Vries, 101-104. 

t De Vries, 104-107. May, however, had visited Jamestown in 1C20 (mile, p. 97) ; and 
it seems, from an entry in Winthrop's journal, that in the motilh of April, 1632, a Dutch 
ship arrived ai Boston from Virginia, bringing two thousand busliels of corn, which were 
sold at four and sixpence a bushel. — Winthrop, i., 73. 



WOUTER VAN TWILLER, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 227 

Delaware's Bay." Some years before, explained the gov-CHAP.viii. 
ernor, Lord Delaware had been driven into this bay by 
foul weather, but, finding it full of shoals, had supposed 
it unnavigable ; and therefore they had not looked after it 
since.* "Yet it is our king's land, and not New Neth- narvey's 
erland," insisted the loyal knight. De Vries replied, thating" 
the South River was a beautiful stream, into which no 
Englishman had been for ten years ; and that, several 
years before, the Dutch had built a fort there, which they 
called Fort Nassau. Harvey was surprised to hear that 
he could have had such neighbors without knowing it. 
He had, indeed, heard that the Dutch had a fort upon 
" Hudson's River, as the English called it ;"t and only 
in the previous September, he had sent a sloop, with sev- 
en or eight men, to Delaware Bay, " to see whether there 
was a river there." But they had not yet returned ; "he 
did not know whether the sea had swallowed them up or 
not." De Vries then told Harvey of the savages he had 
seen in the South River, wearing English jackets, and re- 
lated what he had heard of the tragical fate of the sloop's 
company. " There are lands enough — we should be good 
neighbors with each other," said the honest knight ; add- 
ing expressively, " you will have no trouble from us — if 
only those of New England do not approach too near you, 
and dwell at a distance from you."t 

Thus a pleasant intercourse was opened between the intercourse 
Dutch and their English neighbors in Virginia. Harvey's the"uutcii 
genial frankness, on his first interview with De Vries, con- vlrginhms. 
trasts significantly with Bradford's querulous pertinacity 
six years before. The Virginia governor's warning was 
prophetic. From "those of New England" came encroach- 
ment and annoyance ; until, in the end, the coveted pos- 
sessions of the Dutch in New Netherland were seized by 
an overwhelming British force. The open-hearted oava- 

* See note D, Appendix. 

t This seems to sustain Chalmers's position (p. 229), that by the phrase " the adjoining 
plantations of the Dutch," in Clayborne's trading license of IHth March, 1632 (N. S.),.Har- 
vey meant the settlements on the North or Hudson River only. Moulton (p. 412) and 
Bancroft (ii., p. 281), however, seem to suppose that Harvey referred to De Vries's colony 
at Swaancndael. j pe Vries, 110. 



228 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



1633. 



18 March. 



De Vries 
returns to 
the South 
River. 
29 March. 



14 AprU. 



16 April. 
Arrives at 
Manhattan 



, liers of the " Old Dominion," though they did not fail to 
insist upon the paramount English title to Delaware Bay, 
were always more amiably disposed toward the Holland- 
ers on the North River, than were those austere neighbors 
who soon began to people the valley of the Connecticut, 
and push their thriving villages west and south. It was 
only natural that the New Netherland Dutch, on their 
part, should have regarded the inhabitants of Virginia 
with much more kindliness than they did the colonists of 
New England.* 

After a week's sojourn at Jamestown, De Vries took 
leave of the hospitable Harvey, who, understanding that 
" there were no goats at Fort Amsterdam," sent several on 
board the yacht, as a present to the governor of New Neth- 
erland. Returning to Swaanendael with a welcome sup- 
ply of provisions, De Vries found that his ship had, mean- 
while, taken a few whales. But he was now satisfied that 
the fishery could not be prosecuted to advantage ; and 
preparations were, therefore, made for a final departure 
from the South River. Once more Swaanendael was aban- 
doned to its aboriginal lords ; and, for a space, European 
colonization paused in its progress on the banks of the 
Delaware. 

Wishing to explore the coast, De Vries embarked in his 
yacht ; and after a pleasant voyage of two days, arrived 
before Fort Amsterdam.! Here was lying at anchor, with 
her prize, the ship Soutberg, in which Van Twiller had 
just come out from Holland. De Vries immediately land- 
ing, was welcomed by the new director, to whom he re- 
ported his disappointment in the whale-fishery on the 
South River, and intimated his purpose to leave his large 
ship at anchor near Sandy Hook, and dispatch his yacht, 
as soon as possible, to trade in New England and Canada.^ 



* N. Y. H. S. Coll., i. (N. S.), p. 274. 

t De Vries, 111-113. The journal speakN of his visiting " Eyer Haven," or Egg Har- 
bor, and of his anchoring in a fog, on the 15th of April, off" Barende-gat," or Breaker's 
Inlet, where, in two hours, he took upward of eighty codfish, which were "better tlian 
those of Newfoundland." These names, to this day, commemorate, in the vernacular of 
Holland, the early exploration of the coasts of New Jersey by Dutch navigators. 

t De Vries, 113. 



WOUTER VAN TWILLER, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 229 

A few days afterward, the " William," a London vessel, chap-vhi. 
arrived at Fort Amsterdam from New Plymouth, whither 
she had been dispatched to set up a fishery, and "so tOjg^", 
go to trade at Hudson's River."* The supercargo, or '^,|'^^[,^{J: 
" Koopman," on board this vessel was Jacob Eelkens, the ilY'li^f "I, 

*■ ' arri> cS al 

former commissary at Fort Orange, whom the West India ^i=*"'"^'^"- 
Company had superseded in 1623. After his dismission 
by the Dutch, he went to England, and was engaged by 
some London merchants to manage for them an adventure 
in the peltry trade in New Netherland. Thoroughly in 
the interest of his English employers, Eelkens now wished 
to go up the river, and traific in the neighborhood of his 
old habitation. But Van T wilier, learning his purpose, 
demanded his commission, which Eelkens refused to pro- 
duce. He was now, he said, in English service ; and 
New Netherland itself was British territory, discovered by 
Hudson, an Englishman. This claim of sovereignty was 
promptly repelled by the director and his council. Hud- 
son, they admitted, had discovered the river ; but the dis- 
covery was made in the service, and at the cost, of the 
East India Company at Amsterdam ; and no English col- 
onists had ever been settled in the country. The river it- 
self was named " Mauritius River, after our Prince of 
Orange." 

Eelkens, intent to accomplish his object, informed Van i7 Apru. 
Twiller, after a few days, that he would go up the river, 
if it cost him his life. The director peremptorily refused 
his assent, and ordered the Orange flag to be run up at 
Fort Amsterdam, and a salute of three guns to be fired in 
honor of the Prince. Eelkens, on his part, caused the En- 
glish flag to be displayed on board the AVilliam, and a sim- 
ilar salute to be fired in honor of Kinsr Charles. After lin- saiis up to 

'^ Fort Or- 

gerinsr a week before Fort Amsterdam, and failing^ to re- ""se- 
ceive a license, the ship weighed anchor, and boldly sailed 
up to Fort Orange. The " William," of London, was the 
first British vessel that ever ascended the North River. 
Enraged at this audacity. Van Twiller collected all the 

* Winthrop, i., 100. 



230 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. VIII. people in the fort before his door, and, broaching a cask 
of wine, filled a bumper, calling on those who loved the 
vaaTwii- P^ince of Orange and himself to imitate him, and " assist 
wnducf.*^"^ in protecting him from the violence which the Englishman 
had committed." But the ship was already out of sight, 
sailing up the river ; and the people all began to laugh at 
their pusillanimous director. De Vries, dining with Van 
T wilier the same day, told him bluntly that he had " com- 
mitted great folly." The Englishman had no commission, 
but only a custom-house clearance to sail to New En- 
gland, and not to New Netherland. " If it had been my 
case," said the mortified patroon, "I should have helped 
him from the fort to some eight-pound iron beans, and 
have prevented him from going up the river." The En- 
glish " are of so haughty a nature, that they think every 
thing belongs to them." " I should send the ship Sout- 
berg after him, and drive him out of the river."* 
A Dutch The counsels of the energetic East India captain at 
patched to last arouscd Van Twiller to action. A few days after- 

Fort Or- . ^ 

ange. ward, some soldiers, and '' a pmnace, a caravel, and a 
hoy," were dispatched to Fort Orange, with a protest 
against the intruders, and an order for their departure. 
In the mean time, Eelkens had pitched a tent about a 
mile below the fort, and, for a fortnight, had been carry- 
ing on a lucrative trade with the Indians, with whose lan- 
guage and habits his former residence had made him fa- 
miliar. Houten, the commissary at Fort Orange, had also 
set up a rival tent beside that of Eelkens, and used every 
exertion to hinder his trade. When the little fleet ar- 

May. rived at the encampment, the intruders were ordered to 
retire. Eelkens still persisting, his tent was struck, and 
his goods reshipped by the Dutch soldiers, who, as they 
were thus engaged, " sounded their trumpet in the boat 

■me" Will- in disgrace of the Enj^lish." The anchor was wciarhed at 

iam" . 

brought once, and the ship, accompanied by the Dutch vessels, was 
Manhattan, taken down to Fort Amsterdam. Here the director re- 
quired from Eelkens a list of his peltries. This was fur- 

* De Vries, 113, 114 ; Hoi. Doo., ii., 81-85. 



WOUTER VAN TWILLER, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 231 

nished ; but Van T wilier forbade any of the people at Man- chap.viii. 
hattan, " on pain of death and loss of all their wages," to 
sign any certificates respecting Eelkens's treatment. Im- pof^ed to 
mediately afterward, the "William" was convoyed to sea; ^'^''• 
and her supercargo returned to London, entirely foiled in 
his purpose of interfering with the Dutch fur trade on the 
jNforth River, the annual returns from which were now es- 
timated at about sixteen thousand beaver skins.* 

Eelkens's intrusive visit, besides damaging the fur trade 
of the Dutch, did them a much more serious injury. The 
friendly relations of the Hollanders with the Indians were Hostility or 
for awhile interrupted, and "the injurious seed of discord" toward the 
was sown between them. Peace was not fully restored. Fort or- 
until many " serious mischiefs" had been effected by the 
savages, and the colonists at Fort Orange had lost several 
" men and cattle."! 

Van Twiller soon had another opportunity to enforce the 
trading monopoly of his immediate superiors. Before re- van twu- 
turning with his large ship to Holland, De Vries wished tious con- 
to send his yacht, the Squirrel, through Hell-gate, "toward ward De 
the north," to trade along the coasts. The director, how- 
ever, refused his assent, and ordered a lighter alongside, 20 May. 
to unload the yacht of her ballast ; to which her owner 
demurred, and produced his "exemptions" as a patroon. 
Van Twiller, however, insisted that " all princes and po- 
tentates" were accustomed to search vessels, and that it 
was his duty to see whether there was any thing on board 
the yacht subject to the company's tax. He then ordered 
the guns of Fort Amsterdam to be trained on the Squirrel. 
Seeing this, De Vries ran to the angle of the fort, where 
stood the director, with the secretary, and one or two of 
the council. " The land is full of fools," exclaimed the in- 
dignant patroon ; "if you want to shoot, why did you not 
shoot at the Englishman who violated your river against 
your will ?" Upon this, "they let their shooting stand ;" 
and the Squirrel sailed through Hell-gate, followed by a 

* nol. Doc, ii., 51-88; O'Call., i., 145, 146. t Hoi. Doc, ii., 140-143. 



232 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. VIII. yacht, whicli Van Twiller dispatched from Manhattan to 
watch her movements. 

The accounts which De Yries brought from the South 
River indicated the necessity of prompt measures to se- 
cure the fur trade and possession of the West India Com- 
pany there, especially as Fort Nassau had now heen, for 
Arendt somc time, deserted by the Dutch. Arendt Corssen was 
appointed accordingly appointed commissary, and was instructed to 
ryonthe purchase a tract of land on the Schuylkill, which, "for its 
er. fitness and handsome situation, as well in regard of trade 

as of culture," was held in high estimation. The beaver 
trade with the Minquas and the " wild Indians" could be 
carried on very briskly at that point, and would "amount 
Purchases to thousauds" annually. In the course of this year, Cors- 
the schuyi- sen succccded in purchasing, "for certain cargoes," from 
" the right owners and Indian chiefs," a tract of land call- 
ed " Armenveruis," lying about and on the Schuylkill. 
The Indian title being thus secured, formal possession of 
Pennsylvania was taken by the Dutch, who erected a 
trading-house there ; and afterward a more considerable 
post, to which they gave the name of " Fort Beversrede."* 
Affairs on The Dutch, wlio werc the only Europeans that had thus 

theConnec- ,i • i <• n 

ticut River, far actually occupied any part of the present territory of 
New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, were 
now to assert, against a pertinacious rival, their right to 
the possession of Connecticut, which, from the time of 
Block's exploration, and long " before any English had 
dreamed of going there," they had constantly visited, and 
where they had carried on an exclusive and lucrative 
trade. When the remnant of the Mahicans opposite Fort 
1628. Orange, who had been subdued by the Mohawks, were ex- 
pelled from their ancient abode, they settled themselves 
on the Fresh River, "called Connittecock by the natives," 
under the sachem Sequeen, who claimed the aboriginal 
ownership of "the whole river, and the lands thereabouts." 
It was a beautiful flat country, " subject in the spring to 

* IIol. Doc. viii., 35, 55; Hudde's Report, in Alb. Rec, xvii., and in ii., N. Y. H. S. 
Coll., i., 429, 440 ; O'Call., i., 156 ; it., 81, 581 ; Hazard, Ann. Penn., ,15, 77, 78 ; De Vries, 
102, 103, 104 ; Tpost, p. 483, 485. 



WOUTER VAN TWILLER, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 233 

inundations like those of the Nile." But constant ques- chap.viii. 
tions of jurisdiction arose between Sequeen and the Pe- 
quods, who, under Meautinay, their chief, inhabited the 
regions east of the river, as far as the Narragansett coun- 
try. It was, therefore, agreed that their differences should The Pe- 
be settled by arms, " upon condition that the winner should ?orious!"^ 
always, for himself and his successors, remain the true 
owner of the Fresh River." After tliree different battles 
in the open field, Meautinay obtained " the victory and 
the land ;" and so defeated and humbled Sequeen, that he 
" became subject to the Pequods." With the consent of 
the victors, Sequeen placed himself, and the remnant of his 
tribe, " under the protection of the Netherlanders."* 

From that moment, the relations between the Dutch 
and the tribes on the Connecticut became still more inti- 
mate. The fur trade was carried on briskly, and to mu- 
tual satisfaction. But the humbled warriors panted to be 
revenged. The policy of the Dutch avoided any interfer- 
ence in the quarrel ; and, in hopes of engaging the recent- 
ly-arrived English on his side, Wahginnacut, the sachem 
of the expelled Mahicans, made a journey to Boston, as 1631. 
we have seen, "to extol the fertility of his country, and t\ -'^p"'- 
solicit an English plantation as a bulwark against the Pe- 
quods." But neither Massachusetts nor New Plymouth 
would then become parties to the Indian strife ; nor were 
any steps taken by the English to plant a settlement ; 
though Edward Winslow visited the river the next year, 1632. 
and selected a site for a house. The Dutch remained in 
quiet possession of their valuable trade ; but before the 
recall of Minuit, no purchases of lands had been made, 
nor had any patroonships been erected, under the charter 
of 1629, in any part of the Connecticut valley. t 

While detained m England by the negotiations for the 
release of the Eendragt, the recalled director probably be- 

* Hoi. Doc, vii., 70-88 ; Beveminck, 607 ; Wassenaar, xvi., 13 ; Benson's Memoir, 86. 
The meaning of the Indian name '' Cnnnecticoota," is the " Long River." Sequeen is 
stated to have been the Sagamore of Pyquaug, or Wethersfield, and to have been under 
Sowheag, the great sachem at Mattabesiclv, or Middletown. — Trumbull, i., 40, 41. 

t Winlhrop, i., 52 ; Bancroft, i., 361 ; Hutchinson, i., 148 ; ante, p. 207, 210. 



234 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. VIII. came aware of the grant of Connecticut, which the Earl 
"~ of Warwick had just sealed. The West India Company 

The •w7st ^^^^^ perceived that their title to that . part of New Neth- 
p"^'y p^J*/"" erland would be "sharply contested" by the English. It 
la^nds of the '^^'^'^' therefore, thought expedient that, to their existing 
^Indians. ^^S^^^^ by discovcry and exclusive visitation, should be 
added the more definite title, by purchase from the ab- 
origines. In the course of the following summer, the 
Dutch traders on the Connecticut were accordingly di- 
rected to arrange with the native Indians for the purchase 
of "most all the lands on both sides of the river." This 
was accomplished ; and " Hans den Sluys, an officer of 
the company," also purchased, at the same time, the 
" Kievit's Hoeok," afterward called Saybrook Point, at 
the mouth of the Connecticut, where the arms of the 
States General were "affixed to a tree in token of pos- 
session."* 
1633. One of the most important duties of the new director 
was to secure the West India Company's title to Eastern 
New Netherland ; and Van Twiller, soon after his arrival 
^oi^^ssa- at Manhattan, dispatched Jacob van Curler, one of his 
^"f'^l,^*^"^ commissaries, with six others, to finish the long-proiected 

to the Fresh ' ' n I J 

River. fQj.^ q^i the Connccticut River, and obtain a formal Indian 
deed for the tracts of land formerly selected. The trading- 
house which had been projected in 1623, and " had been 
a long tnne in esse,^^ was now commenced on the west 
bank of the river, about the site of the present tow^n of 

8 June. Hartford. In a few days, Van Curler agreed with the 
Sachem Tattoepan, the "owner of the Fresh River of 
New Netherland," for the purchase of the " flat land ex- 

Purchases tending about three miles down along the river to the 

land. ° ° 

next little stream, and again upward, a musket-shot over 
the kill, being one mile broad to the heights." The pur- 
chase was made " with the free will and consent of the 
inhabitants there," upon condition that the ceded territo- 
ry, "named Sicajoock," should always be a neutral ground, 

* Hot. Doc, iv., 71, 110; Vcrtoogh van N. N., in ii., N. Y. 11. S. Coll., ii., p. 27fi, 277. 
The Kievit is a bird commonly known as the " Pewit." In Holland, its eggs are con. 
sidered a groat delicacy in the spring. 



WOUTER VAN TWILLER, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 235 



1633. 



where all the tribes might resort for purposes of trade, and chap. viii. 
where no wars should ever be waged. With the consent" 
of the Pequod sachem Magaritinne, "chief of Sloup's Bay," 
it was also arranged that Sequeen should thereafter live 
with the Dutch. This land " was bought from the Pe- 
quods as conquerors, with the good-will and assent of Se- 
queen."* 

Thus the Dutch West India Company obtained the In- 
dian title to the territory on the Connecticut River, of the 
whole of which they " had previously taken possession." 
The purchase was made of the natives, who " declared 
themselves the rightful owners ;" Lord Warwick's grantees 
had, as yet, done nothing toward the occupation of the re- 
gions which they claimed ; and the people of New Plym- 
outh had made no attempt to plant a settlement in a re- 
gion which they knew was beyond the limits of their pat- 
ent. Van Curler, the Dutch commissary, soon completed a van curier 

•' ' ^ completes 

redoubt " upon the flat land on the edge of the river, with fo"" Good 

' . . ^ ' Hope." 

a creek emptying at the side." The little post was fortified 
with two small cannon, and named the "Grood Hope."t 

Van Twiller had an early opportunity to acquaint the 
West India Company with his proceedings. De Vries be- June, 
ing about to sail for Holland, came up from his ship at 
Sandy Hook, to take leave of the director, and receive his 

» Hoi. Doc, ix., 187, 189 ; Hazard, ii., 262, 263 ; N. Y. H. S. Coll., i , 271, 272 ; O'Call., 
i., 150, 151 ; Verbael van Boverninck, 607. The Sachem Tattocpan, of whom Van Curler 
made the purchase, is called, by Winslow, " Tatobum, whose title to the river was by 
conquest." — Morton's Mem., App., 396. It seems that a few years afterward, when the 
Pequods had been exterminated, Scquasson, the son of Sequeen, was induced to make the 
following declaration before the Hartford authorities : " 1C40, 2d July, Saqucston testifiea 
in court that he never sold any ground to the Dutch, neither was at any time conquered 
by the Pequods, nor paid any tribute to them." — J. H. Trumbull's Colonial Records of 
Connecticut, 50. 

t De Vries, 150; Hoi. Doc, ii, 368 ; Alb. Rec, xviii.,289 ; Hazard, ii., 268. "In 1819," 
says Dr. Holmes, the annalist, " I went with Mr. Perkins, of Hartford, to see the remains 
of this Dutch fort, which were then distinctly visible on the bank of the Connecticut River, 
not far below the seat of the Wyllys family. There were some decayed pieces of timber 
and bricks." — Holmes, Am. Ann., i., 219, note. The point where the " Little River," which 
now runs through Hartford, empties into the Connecticut, is still known as " Dutch Point." 
On a map of Hartford in 1640, recently prepared by \V. S. Porter, "surveyor and antiqua- 
rian," the meadow on the south of the Little River is also marked as " Dutchman's land." 
The Fort " Hope" was built at the northernmost point of this south meadow. Mr. J. H. 
Trumbull, the able compiler of that excellent work, the " Public Records of Connecticut," 
informs me, that the ruins of the old fort have been traced by persons now living ; and 
that several of the yellow Dutch bricks used in its construction are still preserved by res- 
idents in Hartford. 



236 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. VIII. dispatches. But Van Twiller, renewing his "vexatious 
conduct," objected to the sailing of the ship until she had 
Van Twii- been visited by the officers of Fort Amsterdam. This I)e 
uisv^^xa-^ Vries refused to allow. "I am going," said he, "to the 
ducrto-"" Fatherland ; if you wish to prepare letters, you can send 
vrles.^^ them after me ; I shall return with my boat." The di- 
rector immediately dispatched a dozen musketeers down to 
the beach, to prevent his departure ; but the patroon or- 
dered his boat's crew to row away at once, in spite of the 
soldiers, who were now " ridiculed with shouts and jeers 
by all the by-standers." Returning to the fort, De Vries 
reproached Van Twiller for his " buffoonery" in sending 
down a guard, by which he had made himself a laughing- 
stock to all the people. He then joined his boat, which 
had been waiting behind Nutten (G-overnor's) Island, and 
rowed across the river to Pavonia, where he was " well 
entertained" by Michael Paulusen, the commissary. 
June. The next morninof De Vries reached his ship ; which 

De Vries's 

ship visited was soou afterward visited by a yacht from Fort Amster- 

fromthe dam, brinffino: the director's letters for Holland, and Re- 
fort. 'DO 

mund and Notelman, the provincial secretary and schout, 

who were welcomed on board. Remund, however, see- 
ing a dozen beaver skins lying on the deck, declared them 
" a prize," because they had not been entered at the fort. 
De Vries told him that he might seize them ; but Notelman, 
the schout, interfered. " Let them lie," said he; "we are 
not now at the fort. If there is any thing wrong, the pa- 
troon can answer for it in Holland." The secretary, more 
faithful to his trust, threatened to send the ship Soutberg 
after De Vries ; who, in reply, severely censured the con- 
duct of the company's officers at Manhattan. " They know 
nothing," said the irritated patroon, "but about drinking: 
in the East Indies they would not serve for assistants ; but 
the West India Company sends out at once, as great mas- 
ters of folks, persons who never had any command before ; 
and it must therefore come to naught." With this reproof, 
the discomfited officials returned to Fort Amsterdam.* 

* De Vries, Voyages, 114-110. The journal describes Sandy Hook Bay, in 1633, as " a 



WOUTER VAN TWILLER, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 237 

Setting sail for Holland, De Vries met an English ves-CHAP.vm. 
sel just outside of Sandy Hook, "running directly u})on 
the shoals," and in danger of shipwreck. A gun was fired j^ j^^^ ' 
to warn the stranger, and a boat was sent to point out the ^alis ro? 
channel. The English captain immediately visited De """''"''• 
Vries, who recognized him as an old acquaintance named 
Stone, whom he had met in the West Indies, and afterward 
at Jamestown, the previous spring. Stone was carrying 
a large cargo of cattle from Virginia to New England; 
and being in want of water, he was anxious to run up to 
Manhattan. But no one on board knew the channel. At An English 
Stone's earnest entreaty, De Vries allowed one of his crew Virginia ar- 

•• iT-ii-ii- i-ii -n rives at 

to ]om the English ship, and pilot her up to Fort Amster- Manhattan. 
dam.* The first British vessel that ever ascended the 
North River had been navigated in, a few months before, 
by Eelkens, a discharged officer of the Dutch West India 
Company ; a second English ship now entered the harbor 
of Manhattan with a Dutch pilot furnished by De Vries. 

While Stone was lying at anchor before Fort Amster- 
dam, a trading pinnace arrived from New Plymouth; and 
a quarrel soon arose between the Virginia captain and the 
master of the New England craft. Van T wilier, having 
been drinking with Stone, was prevailed upon to allow him 
to seize the pinnace, "upon pretence that those of Plym- 
outh had reproached them of Virginia." Watching an op- a New 
portunity when most of the New Plymouth people were pinnace 
ashore, Stone boarded the pinnace with some of his men, 'he captain 

' , -rr 'ofthcVir- 

and "set sail to carry her away to Virginia." But some g'nia siup. 
of the Dutch, " who had been at Plymouth and received 
kindness," pursued the marauders, and brousrht them Rescued by 

11 mi IT m -11 1 rM the Dutch. 

back. I he next day, Van TwiUer and Stone entreated 
the master of the pinnace, who was one of the New Plym- 
outh council, "to pass it by." This he promised to do, 
" by a solemn instrument under his hand ;" and both the 
English vessels set sail for Massachusetts. Stone, how- 
great bay where fifty or sixty ships could easily lie, protected from the sea winds. This 
Sandy Hook stretches out about two miles from the Highlands, with a flat sand beach 
about eight or nine paces broad, completely covered with bide plum-trees, which grow 
wild there."— P. 116. * De Vries, 98, 110, 117. 



238 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. viii. ever, no sooner arrived at Boston, than he was arrested at 
~~~~the suit of the New Plymouth people, and bound over to 
appear in the Admiralty Court in England. But the re- 
cognizance was soon withdrawn ; for the prosecutors found 
that " it would turn to their reproach."* 

On the return of their pinnace from Manhattan, the 
New Plymouth people learned that the New Netherland 
authorities had now secured an Indian title, and taken 
formal possession of the valley of the Connecticut. Gov- 
winsiow ernor Winslow and Mr. Bradford, therefore, hastened to 
ford visit Boston, " to coufer about joining in a trade to Connecticut 
||juiy. for beaver and hemp," and "to set up a trading-house 
there, to prevent the Dutch."! But Winthrop again de- 
clined engaging in the enterprise. It was " doubtful 
whether that place was within our patent or not," thought 
the Massachusetts authorities ; nevertheless, they assigned 
Massachu- other reasous for their refusal. " In res^ard," said Winthrop, 

setts de- . 

ciines to <' the place was not fit for plantation, there being three or 

join New . , i 

Plymouth four tliousaud warlike Indians, and the river not to be 

in occupy- 
ing Con- gone into but by small pinnaces, having a bar affording 

but six feet at high water, and for that no vessels can 
get in for seven months in the year, partly by reason of 
the ice, and then the violent stream, &c., we thought not 
ifjuiy. fit to meddle with it." After a week's delay at Roston, 
Winslow and Bradford returned to New Plymouth, with- 
out having been able to engage the co-operation of the Mas- 
sachusetts authorities, but with their "leave to go on."1: 
Probable It is probablc that the real motive of Massachusetts in 
iho^Mass^a- tlius declining the proposition of the New Plymouth peo- 
peopie.^ pie was an indisposition to interfere with the colonization 
of Connecticut, under the charter which Lord Warwick 
had just granted to Saltonstall and his associates. Not 
long afterward, the authorities at Boston distinctly admit- 
ted that the lower part of the Connecticut valley was "out 

* Winthrop, i., 104 ; Morton'.s Memorial, 176. 

t Winthrop. i., 105. Winslow, however, in a letter to Winthrop, written ten years aft- 
erward, on the 6th of April, 1613, alleges that "the Dutch came in by way of prevention, 
and stept in between us and our people," &c. — Morton's Memorial, App., p. 395. 

t Winthrop, i., 105, and Savage's note, 181 ; Morton's Memorial, 172 ; Hutchinson's 
Mass., ii., 416. 



WOIJTER VAN TWILLER, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 239 

of the claim of the Massachusetts patent."* The value chap.viii. 
and importance ot the upper part of that valley, which was 
really comprehended within their patent, was, however, 
soon made known to the Greneral Court. Jolin Oldham, John oid- 
of Watertown, and three others, in the course of the sum- land jour-' 
mer, penetrated one hundred and sixty miles through the necticut. 
wilderness, to trade with the native tribes on the upper 
waters of the Connecticut. The travellers were hospitably 
entertained at all the Indian villages through which they 
passed ; and the sachem whom they visited, near the pres- 
ent town of Springfield, " used them kindly, and gave 
them some beaver." Earl}'^ in the autumn of 1633, the September. 
first British explorers returned to Boston, with glowing 
accounts of the luxuriant meadows which bordered the riv- 
er, and bringing samples of hemp which " grows there in 
great abundance, and is much better than the English."! 

Though Winthrop would not join with the New Plym- winthrop 
outh authorities in their projected enterprise of opposition van twh- 
to the Dutch, he nevertheless thought it necessary to as- claims 
sert, promptly, the superior title of the English to the cut for me 
whole of the Connecticut valley. Accordingly, he dis- 
patched his bark, the " Blessing of the Bay," on a trading 
voyage through Long Island Sound, with a " Commis-?^^iH!L 
sion," to signify to the New Netherland government "that 
the King of England had granted the river and country 
of Connecticut to his own subjects," and that the Dutch 
should therefore " forbear to build there." On their way, 
the bark's company visited Long Island, where they found 
the Indians had " store of the best wampampeak," and 
" many canoes so great, as one will carry eighty men." 
They also visited " the River of Connecticut, which is 
barred at the entrance, so as they could not find above one 
fathom water." At Manhattan, Winthrop's messengers 
" were very kindly entertained, and had some beaver, and 
other things, for such commodities as they put off. "I 

After five weeks' absence, the bark returned to Boston, -\ oct. 

* Winthrop, i., 398, App. t Winthrop, i., Ill ; Trumbull, i., 34. 

t Winthrop, i., Ill, 112. 



240 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. VIII. with a " Very courteous and respectful" letter from Van 
Twiller to Winthrop. The Director of New Netherland, in 
23 se t ' "turn, desired the Massachusetts authorities to defer their 
4 October. " prctencc or claim" to Connecticut, until the King of En- 
van Twii- Hand and the States Greneral should asrree about their lim- 

ler replies, " . pit • ii- 

and asserts its, SO that the colouists of Dotli natious miffht live "as 

the Dutch ' . i i • i • 

title. good neighbors in these heathenish countries." "I have, 
added Van Twiller, "in the name of the Lords, the States 
General, and the authorized West India Company, taken 
possession of the forementioned river, and for testimony 
thereof have set up an house on the north side of the said 
river, with intent to plant, &c. It is not the intent of the 
States to take the land from the poor natives, as the King 
of Spain hath done by the Pope's donation, but rather to 
take it from the said natives at some reasonable and con- 
venient price, which, Grod be praised, we have done hith- 
erto. In this part of the world are divers heathen lands 
that are empty of inhabitants, so that of a little part or 
portion thereof, there needs not any question."* 
NewPiym- Notwithstanding the refusal of the Massachusetts au- 
mences a thoritics, the Ncw Plymouth people did not abandon their 
on the Con- purposc of encroachmcnt on the Connecticut ; where the 
Hollanders were now in quiet possession, under their three- 
fold right by original discovery, constant visitation, and 
formal purchase from the aboriginal owners. To secure 
a color of adverse title, a tract of land, just above Fort 
Grood Hope, was bought of " a company of banished In- 
dians," who had been " driven out from thence by the po- 
tency of the Pequods." A small frame of a house was 
prepared, and stowed in " a great new bark ;" with which 
" a chosen company," under the command of Lieutenant 
An expedi- William Holmcs, was dispatched to the Connecticut. With 
patched to Holmes and his party the bark also conveyed the banished 
necticut. Indians, from whom the land had been purchased. This 
rendered it indispensable that the English intruders should 
be provided with " a present defense" against the Pe- 

* Lond. Doc, i., 53; N. Y. Col. MSB., iii., 18; Winthrop, i., 113; Trumbull, i., 70; 
Address before N. Y. II. S., 1844, 32 ; O'Call., i., 152. Holmes, Ann., i., 223, errs in placing 
this transction under the year 1634, instead of 1633. 



WOUTER VAN TWILLER. DIRECTOR GENERAL. 241 

quods, " who were much offended that they brought home chap.viii. 
and restored the right sachem of that place, called Natu- 
wannute."* 

The Plymouth adventurers soon reached Fort Good ir, sept. 
Hope. " When they came up the river," says the quaint Plymouth 
Puritan chronicler, "the Dutch demanded what they in- ers settle 
tended, and whither they would go ? They answered, up at wind- 
the river to trade. Now their order was to go and seat 
above them. They bid them strike and stay, or else they 
would shoot them, and stood by their ordnance ready fit- 
ted. They answered, they had commission from the Grov- 
ernor of Plymouth to go up the river to such a place, and 
if they did shoot, they must obey their order and proceed ; 
they would not molest them, but would go on. So they 
passed along ; and though the Dutch threatened them 
hard, yet they shot not. Coming to their place, they 
clapped up their house quickly, and landed their provi- 
sions, and left the company appointed, and sent the bark 
home, and afterward palisadoed their house about, and for- 
tified themselves better."! Thus was begun the first En- 
glish settlement at Windsor, in Connecticut, 

Advised of the intrusion of the resolute " Plymotheans," vim xwii- 
Van Twillcr sent to Commissary Van Curler a formal noti- inelrectuai- 
fication, to be delivered to Holmes, protesting against his 2^' October, 
conduct, and commanding him to "depart forthwith, with 
all his people and houses," from the lands on the Fresh 
River, continually traded upon by the Dutch, " and at 
present occupied by a fort." But Holmes, who had de- 
fied the ordnance of the Hope, was not to be moved by a 
protest from the Director of New Netherland. " He was 
there," said the New Plymouth lieutenant, "in the name 
of the King of England, whose servant he was, and there 
he would remain."! 

* Bradford, in Hutch, Mass., ii., 416; Hazard, ii., 215. Winslow, in Morton's Meim>- 
rial, App., 396, calls this sachem's name " Attawanhut," who had been expelled by Ta- 
lobum ; and adds, " that this Attawanhut, by the relation of Lieutenant Holmes, if he 
would have given way to it, would have cut off the Dutch, because they came in by Ta- 
tobum." 

t Bradford, in Hutch., ii., 417 ; Prince, 435 ; Winthrop, i., 113 ; Trumbull, i., 35. 

i Hoi. Doc, i.x., 189, 190 ; i., N. V. H. S. Coll., i., 271 ; Hazard, ii., 262 ; O'Call., i., 154. 

a 



242 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



1638. 



Chap. VIII. Finding his protests disregardcnl, Van T wilier submit- 
ted his perplexities to his superiors in Holland. But be- 
fore any reply could reach Manhattan, a new embarrass- 
ment occurred. Captain Stone, on his return from New 
England to Virginia, early the next year, entered the 
1634. mouth of the Connecticut, for the purpose of trading at 
januarj. ^-^^^ Pntcli fort ; aud, while on his way up the river, was 
Captain trcaclierously murdered by the Pequods. The massacre 
iioro.i by of Stone aiid his company was followetl, soon afterward, by 
Indians, the killing of some friendly Indians ; and Commissary Van 
Curler punished the double atrocities by executing the 
War be- "old sachem, and some other" of the assassins. This ex- 

Iwoen the .iit-» ii •iii-r\i i- 

ivqiioiis Cited the ret^uods to oiicn war witli the J lutch ; and, in 

ami the i • i ■ i • • i i • 

Dutch. revenge, the savages now desired to gain the Inendship 
Nov. of the English. They, therefore, dispatched an embassy to 
iween'the Bostou, whcrc a treaty was negotiated, by which the Pe- 

Pequoils , , , "" . .' 

and Massa- quods agi'ccd to surrciider the two surviving murderers ot 
stone's party, to " yield up Connecticut" to the English, 
and to give their new allies a large store of wampum and 
beaver. This treaty, though it benefited ]\Iassacluisetts 
rather than New Plymouth, gave tlie Windsor colonists 
fresh courage. Van Twiller, who by this time had re- 
Peccn^ber. ccivcd instructious from the West India Company, soon 
inetivctuai- aftcrward dispatched " a band of about seventy men, in a 
to dislodge warlike mannt?r, with colors displayed," to dislodge the 
from vvind- New Plymouth men from Windsor. But the intruders 
standing upon their defense, the Dutch force withdrew 
'* without oflering any violence."* 
1633. While important public questions had thus continued to 
aira?rTof try the inexperienced Van Twiller from the day he landed 
inci!"^"'' fit Manhattan, the domestic concerns of the province had 
required much of his attention. P'rom the lirst, he seems 
to have formed an extravagant estimate of the wealth and 
resources of his commercial employers. Tlu^y had au- 
thorized him to make large expenditures at the points 
where their fur trade centered, and where their revenue 

* De Vrics, 150 ; Winthrop, i., 123, 14S, 153, 386 ; Prince, 436 ; Morton's Memorial, 176, 
183, 184; Trumbull,!., .15. 71, 



WOUTER VAN TWILI.ER, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 24S 

officers were stationed. Fort Amsterdam, which had be-CHAP.via 
come dilapidated, was repaired, and a guard-house, and a 
barrack for the newly-arrived soldiers, were constructed p^^ Am- 
within the ramparts, at a cost of several thousand guilders. pa^iJ^J!"'* 
Three expensive wind-mills were also erected ; hut they mius and 
were injudiciously placed so near the fort that the build- bum at 
mgs withm its wails frequently " mtercepted and turned 
off the south wind." Several brick and frame houses were 
built for the director and his officers ; and on the compa- 
ny's farm, north of the fort, a dwelling-house, brewery, 
boat-house, and barn. Other smaller houses were built 
for the corporal, the smith, the cooper, and the midwife ; 
and the goats, which Harvey had sent from Virginia as a 
present to Van Twiller, were accommodated with an ap- 
propriate stable. The loft, in which the people had wor- The 
shiped since 1626, was now replaced by a plain wooden 
building like a barn, " situate on the East River," in what 
is now Broad Street, between Pearl and Bridge Streets ; 
and near this " old church," a dwelling-house and stable 
were erected for the use of "the Domine."* In the Fa-The"Dom- 
therland, the title of " Domine" was familiarly given to'"*" 
clergymen, and head-masters of Latin schools. The phrase 
crossed the Atlantic with Bogardus ; and it has survived 
to the present day, among the descendants of the Dutch 
colonists of New Netherland. 

Manhattan was also invested with the prerogative of "staple 
" Staple right," one of those peculiar feudal institutions iif."shtd at 
enjoyed by Dordrecht and other towns in Holland, in vir- 
tue of which all the merchandise passing up and down 
the rivers on which they were situated was subject to cer- 
tain impost duties. This right was now to be exercised 
at Manhattan ; and all vessels passing before Fort Am- 
sterdam were to be obliged either to discharge their car- 
goes, or pay the "recognitions" which the West India Com- 
pany imposed.! 

Besides the costly works which Van Twiller undertook 

* Ila/.anl, i., 397 . Alb. Rcc, i., 85, 66, 88; x., 355; Ifol. Doe., iii., 07; iv.. 125, Vtr- 

toogh van N. N, 289, 293; 0XaII.,i., 155; Moulton ; Benson's Memoir, 103; DeVries, 103. 

t Meyer's InslilutionsJiuliciaircs, iii.,55 ; O'Call., i., 155 ; Vertoogli van N. N., 290, 313. 



244 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. VIII. at Manhattan, two houses were ordered to be built at Pa- 
vonia ; another in Fort Nassau, on the South River ; and 
Buildings ^^ ^'^^^ Orange, " an elegant large house, with balustrades, 
Fort^Nrs-^' ^^^^ eight small dwellings for the people."* All these en- 
Fortor- torprises were undertaken on account, and at the expense 
*"^*'' of the company. The sound of the hammer was now con- 
stantly heard ; but only at the points where the trade of 
the company was to be protected. No independent farmers 
attempted the cultivation of the soil. The agricultural im- 
provement of the country was in the hands of the patroons. 
The colonic of Rensselaerswyck, during the first three 
coionieof years after its settlement, had grown very gradually. A 
laerswyck. few farms ou thc rich alluvion yielded large returns. But 
most of the colonists clustered around the walls of the 
1634. company's reserved Fort Orange. From the form of the 
river bank at this place, which was supposed to resemble 
a hoop-net, the hamlet soon received the name of the 
TUeFuyck. "Fuyck."t This was subsequently changed to "Bevers- 
wyck," by which it was long known. At first, owing, 
perhaps, to the discord between the patroons and the com- 
pany, its population increased very slowly ; and for sev- 
eral years it was esteemed at Manhattan a place of "little 
consequence. "t Arendt van Curler, a man of large benev- 
olence and unsullied honor, was the patroon's commissa- 
iis first of- ry and secretary ; Wolfert Gerritsen, superintendent of 
prominent famis ; and Jacob Albertsen Planck, schout. Roelof Jan- 

COlonistS. iTii Ti/r-/^' l\/r A1- 

sen, Brandt Peelen, Martm (jrerntsen, Maryn Adnaensen, 
Gerrit Teunissen, Cornelis Teunissen, Cornells Maassen van 
Buren, Jan Labbatie, and Jan Jansen Dam, were among 
the most prominent of the pioneer colonists. § Some of 
these, afterward removing from Rensselaerswyck to Man- 
hattan, became distinguished or notorious in the larger 
field of provincial politics. 

From some unexplained cause, the Raritan savages, 

* Alb. Rec, i., 65, 86 ; O'Call., i., 156, 157. 
t Judge Benson's Memoir, 120 ; Renss. MSS. 
t Journal van N. N., in Hoi. Doc, iii., 97 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iv., 5. 
I) Renss. MSS.; O'Call., i., 322, 433, 434. Van Curler was drowned in 1667, while cross- 
ing Lake Champlain; Relation, 16C7-8, 18; N.Y. Col. MSB., iii., 156. 



WOUTEIl VAN TWILLER, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 245 

soon after Van Twiller's arrival, attacked several of thecHAP.viii. 
company's traders, and showed other signs of hostiHty. 
Peace, however, was restored in the course of the follow- -rrouwo^ 
inff year :* but the savages in the neighborhood of Fort );''"'/''•= 
Amsterdam were never afterward as friendly and cordial ""^ases. 
toward the Dutch as were the Mohawks near Fort Orange. 

Van Twiller's conduct in the administration of provin- van Twn- 

• 1 fv ■ 1 !■ 1 1 II Iff severely 

cial artau's seems, be tore long, to have provoked a severe reprimand- 
reprimand from Domme Bogardus, who is said to have ine Bogar- 
written him a letter describing him as "a child of then June. 
devil," and threatening him with "such a shake from the 
pulpit, on the following Sunday, as would make him shud- 
der." Whatever causes may have provoked this coarse 
attack, neither the license of a rude and early age, nor the 
habits and temper of Bogardus himself, could justify con- 
duct, which, his enemies afterward charged against him, 
was " unbecoming a heathen, much less a Christian, let- 
ting alone a preacher of the G-ospel."t 

The affairs of New Netherland had by this time at- oompiainu 

... of the own- 

tracted the serious attention oi the home government, ers of me 
Upon the return of the "William" to England, the depo- iam to the 
sitions of the crew were taken ; and a statement of the bassadors 

. . 1 -n 1 '" London. 

case was communicated to Joachimi and Brasser, the 1633. 
Dutch ambassadors at London, with a demand of damages ^ n°^'- 
from the West India Company, and the threat of an appli- 
cation to the British government, in case satisfaction 
should be withheld. The ambassadors immediately trans- 1634. 
mitted the papers to the States G-eneral, with an intima- transmit 
tion that the disputes which had lately broken out be- gj^j^g'*^'^®^^ 
tween the patentees of Virginia and New England were^""^- 
instigated by the Spaniards, and " were not agitated be- 
cause these parties were suffering loss from one another, 
but in order that men might have occasion to quarrel with 
the Dutch about the possession of New Netherland." Upon Referred to 
the report of their committee, the States Greneral referred inJia com- 
the case to the West India Company, with directions " to -u June. 

* Alb. Rec, i., 96 ; O'Call., i., 157, 167. 

+ Alb. Rec, ii., 328-334 ; O'Call., i., 167, 362. 



246 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. VIII. inform their High Mightinesses of the right of the mat- 



ter."* 



pany. 



85 October After some months delay, the deputies from the College 
the^w" t"*^ of the XIX. submitted a memorial to the States Greneral, 
India Com- denying the claim of the London merchants for compen- 
sation, and insisting that the "West India Company had 
reason to allege damages against the English trespassers. 
The renegade Eelkens himself was well aware that New 
Netherlaijd had been discovered at the cost of the East 
India Company, in 1609, "before any Cliristians had been 
there, as was testified by Hudson, who was then employ- 
ed by the said company to find out a northwest passage 
to China." Subsequent occupation, purchases from the 
aborigines, and colonization under the West India Com- 
panyj had confirmed this original title by discovery. None 
but " some prohibited traders, and especially Jacob Eel- 
kens," had hitherto questioned the company's rights un- 
der their charter. Eelkens's conduct had done them great 
damage, and the " injurious seed of discord" had been 
sown between the Indians and the Dutch, who had, up to 
that time, lived with each other in good friendship. To 
arrange the present dispute, and prevent future difficulty, 
the company suggested that the whole question should be 
referred to the arbitration of Boswell, the English ambas- 
sador at the Hague, and Joachimi, the Dutch ambassador 
at London, and that their High Mightinesses should take 
prompt measures to establish a boundary line between 
the Dutch and English possessions in North America.! 
85 October. The Statcs General, however, though they consented that 

Question . •i-niii<-i v- 

left unset- the Company might confer with Boswell, left the afiair to 

" take its own course ;" and the question of damages, as 

1638. well as that of boundaries remained unsettled. Four years 

84 May. aftcrward, Joachimi wrote from London that the owners 

of the "William had again complained to him ; but the 

1633 I^^^^^^ government took no further notice of the subject.t 

84 July. Meanwhile, De Vries had returned to Amsterdam, where 

♦ Hoi. Doc, ii., 51-55, 90-92. t IIol. Doc, ii., 136 ; O'Call., i., 164. 

t Hoi. Doc, ii., 144, 196. 



VVOUTER VAN TWILLER, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 247 

he found his partners at variance with the other directors chap. vi:l 
of the company. The chief cause of difficulty was the 
interference of the patroons with the peltry trade; and variance 
even the few beaver skins, "not worth speaking of," which fhe'dtre'c- 
De Vries himself had procured in New Netherland, were \v.^° com 
made the subject of recrimination. Unwilling to be in- fhe" pa-'"* 
volved in the quarrels which were defeating the purposes s^'Tufy. 
of the Charter of Privileges, De Vries retired from his part- 
nership with the other patroons of Swaanendael. But his 
return to Amsterdam seems to have occasioned a beneficial 
change in the provincial administration. Notelman, the Noteiman 

'-' ^ 111 superseded. 

unfaithful schout-fiscal, was promptly superseded ; and 
Lubbertus van Dincklagen, "an upright man and a doc- Luhbenus 

11 11- tvi- 1 ^"" Diuck- 

tor of laws, was dispatched to succeed him at Manhat- lapen ap- 

T 1 1 1 /^i T pointed 

tan.* In this appointment, the Amsterdam Chamber ex- sciiout. 
hibited much more wisdom than they had done in select- 
ing Van Twiller to be director. 

The patroons, however, were not so much at variance The pa- 
with each other as with the company, whose engrossing bine 
monopoly of the fur trade they longed to change into spe- dfrectors ot 
cific monopolies for themselves. The Amsterdam Cham- ny. 

24 Nov. 

ber having determined that the Charter of Privileges was 
legal, opened unsuccessful negotiations with the patroons. i9 Dec. 
Both parties, therefore, appealed to the States General, who boui par- 

1 • PI- 111 11 "^^ appeal 

appointed a committee ot their own body to hear and de- to the 
cide upon these differences. The patroons accordingly sub- crai. 
mitted a statement of their grounds of complaint against jg ju^ 
the company, and of their " claims and demands." They ",|j j"' 
alleged that they had involved themselves in expenses to ^l"^^, °^ 
the amount of one hundred thousand guilders for their "■°°"^- 
three patroonships, which now were costing them " at 
least forty-five thousand guilders annually." As the com- 
pany had repeatedly called their privileges in question, the 
damages thus caused should be made good. "Within the 
limits of the patroonships, there were certain " lordships, 
having their own rights and jurisdictions," which had 

* Do Vries, 119, 120 ; Renss. MSS. ; IIoI. Doc, ii., 167, 169, 178 ; v., 217 ; Vertoogh 
van N. N., in ii., N. Y. H. S. Coll., ii., 291. 



248 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. VIII. been ceded to the patroons, along with the ownership of 
the soil ; and over the grantees of these prerogatives the 
company had no more power than it had " over the lords 
sachems the sellers." The inland fur trade within the 
patroonships, it was argued, was not included in the res- 
ervation of the company's monopoly ; and the patroons 
were not hound to pay any recognitions on peltries. 
Wherever the company had no commissaries at the time 
of the granting of the charter, the patroons also claimed 
the right to trade, on payment of the recognition ; and 
they maintained that, without their consent, the company 
could not send commissaries into the patroonships, nor af- 
fix placards, nor oblige the colonists to abstain from the 
fur trade. With respect to the right of appeal in civil 
cases to the Director and Council of New Netherland, it 
" should not prejudice, in the least, the higher jurisdic- 
tion and other privileges of the patroons." 

These were the chief points which the patroons thought 
they had common cause to urge against the company. 
The destruction of Swaanendael by the Indians, furnished 
a specific ground of complaint on the part of the South 
River proprietaries, who insisted, that as the company had 
promised to aid and defend the colonists in New Nether- 
land from all inland and foreign wars, they were " bound 
to make good the injuries which befell the patroons, their 
people, cattle, and goods there, and which they still con- 
tinue to suffer."* 

22 June. The directors avowed their willingness to submit the 

Answer of . , • f i i i c i • • 

thecompa- qucstion as to the construction of the doubtml pomts in 
the charter to the judgment of the States G-eneral. On 
their part, the patroons reiterated their claims for dam- 
ages, and demanded an immediate decision upon their 

24 June. Validity. But the States G-eneral prudently postponed a de- 

The states • • ,, • , , ii .i ^- x j. 

General cisiou, " in orclcr to enable the parties to come to an amica- 
eision. blo Settlement ;" and hero the question ended, so far as the 
formal action of the Dutch government was concerned.t 

* Alb. Rec, xiii., 42, 43 ; Hoi. Doc, ii., 39-50, 05-115 ; O'Call., i., 150-163 ; Motilton, 
421, 422. t Hoi. Doc, ii., 115, 119. 124. 



WOUTER VAN TWILLER, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 249 

In the mean time, Godyn had died; and the remain- chap.viii. 
ing patroons of Swaanendaei commenced legal proceedings 
against the company for the damages they had sustained pg^^,, ^f ' 
in the loss of their colony. The Assembly of the XIX. ^""^y"- 
finding that these continual discords were only injuring 
the interests of all parties, commissioned some of their di- 22 August, 
rectors " to treat and transact with all the patroons and 
colonists in New Netherland" for the purchase of all their 
rights and property. An agreement was accordingly made 27 Nov. 
with the South River patroons and the heirs of G-odyn, for 
the purchase of " their two colonies, named Swaanendaei, 
in New Netherland," for the sum of fifteen thousand six 
hundred guilders. The formal surrender took place early 1635. 
the next year ; and the West India Company again be- surmldY/ 
came the legal proprietary of all the territory on both sides endaerto 
of the Delaware.* company. 

An unexpected danger now menaced Southern NewArgaii'sde- 
Netherland. After his recall from the government of Vir- the oeia- 
ginia, Argall seems to have contemplated the establish- 
ment of a " new plantation," to the northward of the En- 
glish settlements on the Chesapeake. It was, perhaps, to 
aid in this design, that John Pory, who had been one of 
the tools of Argall's rapacious administration, and was 
Colonial Secretary of Virginia under Yeardley, his suc- 
cessor, " made a discovery into the great bay," and as- 1620. 
cended the River Patuxent. But Pory's explorations, October. 

Porv's GX* 

which were nearly contemporaneous with the grant of the pioratioii. 
New England patent, were confined to the tributary wa- 
ters of the Chesapeake, and to a subsequent journey of 1621. 
sixty miles overland-, from Jamestown " to the South Riv- ^'^''^"'"^• 
er Chowanock." A strange misapprehension has led a 
learned English annalist into the absurd error of confound- 
ing the " South River Chowanock," upon which Edenton 
now stands, with the " South River" of New Netherland, 
which Pory never entered.! 

* " Papers relating to the Colony of Zwanendal," in O'Call., App., 479 ; Hazard, Ann. 
Penn., 39, 40. 

t Chalmers, 206 ; Purchas, iv., 1784-7 ; Smith, ii., 61-64 ; Burk, i., 273 ; Bozman, i., 
146, 153, 154. 



250 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, 

Chap. VIII. After the accession of Charles I., colonial exploration 

~~~~~"was pushed with greater diligence, because that monarch 

Subsequent instructed the governors of Virginia to procure more exact 

Jx'pfora-" information of the geography of the province. Governor 

27 August. Yeardley, in 1627, and Grovernor Pott, in 1629, success- 

1629. ively commissioned William Clayborne, their Secretary of 

Clay- ' State, to trade with the Indians, and explore the regions 

peditions'. north and east of the Chesapeake. A company was soon 

afterward formed in England ; and through the influence 

of Sir William Alexander, the Secretary of State for Scot- 

1631. land, Charles I., under the privy signet of that kmgdom, 
"^^ licensed Clayborne and his associates to trade freely " to 

those parts of America for which there is not already a 
patent granted to others for sole trade." To give effect to 
this royal license, Sir John Harvey, the new governor of 

1632. Virginia, issued a colonial commission the next year, by 
which Clayborne was authorized to sail and traffic " unto 
any English plantation," and also "unto the adjoining 
plantations of the Dutch, seated upon this territory of 
America." So entirely ignorant was the Virginia govern- 
or of -the geography of "Lord Delaware's Bay," that the 

September, following autumu hc dlspatchcd a sloop, with seven or 
tempt of the eight men, "to see if there was a river there." This was 
explore the tlic first attempt ever made by the English to explore 

Delaware. ,t^i /-^ii i i 

the Delaware. Clayborne, however, does not appear to 

have entered that river, or to have visited Manhattan. He 

Extent of availed himself of his trading licenses only in the neigh- 

borne's ex- borliood of the Chesapeake, after exploring the upper wa- 



plorations. 



ters of which, he limited his ambition to the establishment 
of a ]>ost on the Isle of Kent, and anotlier at the mouth of 
the Susquehanna.* 

Meanwhile, the characteristic intolerance of the Angli- 
can hierarchy was preparing noble materials for the foun- 
dation of a new colony on the banks of the Potomac. The 
Puritan Non-conformists were not the most oppressed ob- 
jects of religious persecution in their native land ; nor was 

* Lond. Doc, i., 40, 43,45; N. Y. Col. MSS., iii., 14, 15 ; De Vries, 110, 111 ; an<e,p.227; 
Chalmers, 206, 227 ; Bancroft, i., 237 ; Hildreth, i., 208 ; Bozman, i., 115, 265, 269. 



WOUTER VAN TWILLER, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 251 

the constancy which led them to the shores of Massachu-CHAP.viii. 
setts without an illustrious parallel. There were other 
subjects of the King of England whose faith in Christian- 
ity was as sincere, and whose opposition to the established 
hierarchy was as conscientious. These were the Roman Motives to 

1 1 rr 1 ••11 Catholic 

Catholics, who suiiered even greater seventies than the eniigration 

■n. 1 1 • • P 1 1 1 • '^°"' ^"' 

Puritans, and were the victims oi a double persecution, giami. 
The Church of England struggled against both Roman 
and Puritan dissenters ; for the ultimate aim of all the an- 
tagonists was not toleration, but supremacy. Between 
the Papal and the Anglican hierarchies, Puritanism array- 
ed itself on the side of the Church of England, and con- 
stantly instigated her to new rigors against the sincere be- 
lievers in the venerable faith of Rome. It was thus that 
conscientious Papists had even stronger motives than con- 
scientious Puritans to seek an asylum in the New World. 
James I. was not, however, as bitter against the Roman 
Catholics as were the maiority of his subjects. One of the ceorgecai- 
last acts of ins reign was to elevate to the Irish peerage, of uaiti- 
under the title of Baron of Baltimore, Sir Greorge Calvert, 1(525. 
who, after several years of faithful service as Secretary of 
State, openly avowing his adherence to the Roman faith, 
yielded to the growing cry against Popery, and resigned 
his office.* Charles I. was, perhaps, less disposed to show 
favor to the body of the Roman Catholics than his father 
had been. Yet he was magnanimous enough to appreciate 
and reward individual merit, even in a Papist. Calvert, 
who was an early friend of American colonization, had ob- 
tained the grant of Avalon, on the coast of Newfoundland, 
and had endeavored to establish a settlement there. But 
that sterile and inhospitable region was unfav^orable to sue- 1623. 
cess ; and about the time Endicott was settling himself 
at Salem, Lord Baltimore visited Virginia, in the hope of 1628 
finding some unoccupied territory within that province, on gj' 



Visits Vir- 
nia. 



* Sir George Calvert was appointed Secretary of State on the 16th of February, 1019, 
and resigned that office on the 9th of February, 1625. James I. died on the 27th of March, 
1C25, and Calvert's peerage was probably one of the last patents of that reign. Sir Al- 
bertus Morton was appointed by Charles I. Secretary of State, in place of Calvert, on the 
9th of April, 1625. 



252 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. VIII. which to plant a colony. Protestant feeling, however, was 
too strong in Virginia to allow the unmolested exercise of 
the Roman faith ; and Baltimore returned to England, to 
solicit a royal charter for the colonization of the uninhab- 
ited regions north of the Potomac. 

The personal regard of Charles I. easily induced his as- 
1632. sent to an ample patent ; but before the legal forms could 

15 April, ^g completed, Lord Baltimore died. The royal promise, 
however, was faithfully executed ; and, two months after 
his father's death, Cecilius Calvert, baron of Baltimore, 

Royal char- rcceivcd a charter, granting and confirming to him the ter- 

ter for Ma- . - iii i-i 

ryiand. ritorv Douiided by a line due east from the mouth of the 

20 June. '' i /^i 

Potomac, across the Chesapeake to the ocean, and thence 
along the coast to " that part of the Bay of Delaware on 
the north, which lieth under the fortieth degree of north 
latitude from the equinoctial, where New England is ter- 
minated ;" thence, westwardly, along the fortieth parallel, 
to the " fountain" of the Potomac, and thence along the 
west bank of the river to its confluence with the Chesa- 
peake. The territory thus granted was erected into a 
province, the name of which, originally intended to be 
" Crescentia," was, by the king's desire, changed to that 
of Maryland, in honor of his queen, Henrietta Maria of 
France.* The new province comprehended within its 
boundaries, not only the whole of the present States of Ma- 
ryland and Delaware, but all that part of Pennsylvania 
lying south of the fortieth parallel, and east of the merid- 
ian of the source of the Potomac. The proprietary him- 
self was invested with the almost regal jurisdiction of the 
ancient bishops of Durham. 
Leonard About two ycars after the charter was sealed, the foun- 
1,'ins the dations of the colony of Maryland were peacefully laid by 
tionofMa- Leonard Calvert, a half-brother of Lord Baltimore. Two 
ships, the Ark and the Dove, conveying nearly two hund- 
red Roman Catholic gentlemen with their indented serv- 
1634. ants, sailed from England by way of the West Indies, and 
24 Feb. reached the Chesapeake early in 1634. On one of the 

* llazard, i., 327 ; Bozman, i., 271 ; ii., 10. 



WOUTER VAN TWILLER, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 253 

streams flowing into the Potomac, Calvert found the In-CHAP.viii. 
dian village of Yoacomoco, which was about being desert- 
ed by its inhabitants. Imitating the honesty of the Dutch 
at Miinhattan, he purchased the possessory rights of the 
aborigines; and the colonists at once entered into occupa- 27 March 
tion of their wilderness abode, to which they piously gave 
the name of " Saint Mary's." Comprehensive benevolence saint Ma- 
insured the rapid prosperity of the new colony where re-ed." 
ligious liberty was to be unrestrained. The conscientious 
Non-conformists of England at last found a congenial asy- 
lum, under the banner of their country, in the New World ; 
for the Ark and the Dove had conveyed to the shores of 
the Potomac more liberal-minded fathers of a state than 
those earlier emigrants who were peopling the coasts of 
Massachusetts Bay.* 

In the mean time, the charter of Maryland had produced .loaiousy of 
alarm and excitement among the colonists of Virginia, who |(j33_ 
caused a remonstrance to be presented to the king against 
the dismemberment of their territory. But the Privy Coun- May. 
cil decided to leave Lord Baltimore " to his patent, and 
the other parties to the course of law." Clayborne, how- 3 juiy. 
ever, who chose to construe his trading license into a com- 
mission to plant colonies, refused to relinciuish his preten- 
sions to Kent Island, or submit to Calvert's authority. A 
skirmish occurred ; and Clayborne, escaping to Virginia, 163'). 
was demanded by the Maryland authorities, as a fugitive chl'y"'"^'' 
from justice. But the Virginians, looking on the colonists comumacy. 
of Maryland as intruders within their territory, were dis- 
posed to side with Clayborne. Harvey, however, unwill- 
ing to do any act in apparent opposition to the royal char- 

* Chalmers, 207; Bozman, ii., 26, 27 ; Bancroft, i., 247; Ilihlrcth, i., 209 ; Chalmcr.s's 
Revolt of the Colonies, i., 61, 62. The feelings of the Ma.ssachusetts people toward the 
Maryland colonists, who "did set up mass openly," do not seem to have been friendly, or 
even charitable. A few months after the settlement at Saint Mary's (August, 163!), Cal- 
vert dispatched the Dove to Boston, with friendly letters, and a cargo of corn to exchange 
for fish. Some of the crew were accused of reviling the people of Massachusetts, as " holy 
brethren, the members," &c. ; and, "upon advice with the ministers," the supercargo 
was arrested while on shore, in order to compel the surrender of the offenders. But the 
witnesses were found to " fall short,'' and disagree in their testimony ; and the Dove was 
suffered to depart, with an injunction to the master "to bring no more such disordered 
persons" to Massachusetts.— Winthrop, i., 134, 139, 144. 



254 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. VIII. ter to Lord Baltimore, in a spirit of compromise sent Clay- 
borne a prisoner to England. This step was viewed by 
Governor ^^® Virginians as a betrayal of their interests ; and Har- 
poTed'anlT ^^'J was immediately deposed by the council, and Captain 
g?aiid.° ^" John West appointed to act as governor until the king's 
28 April, pleasure should be known.* 

While at Jamestown two years previously, De Vries had 
explained to Harvey the situation of Fort Nassau ; and his 
account, though it did not prevent the hospitable govern- 
or from intimating that the Dutch should receive no an- 
noyance from him, provoked the covetousness of Clay- 
west'sde- borne's friends. A foothold on the Delaware, they now 

signs on the ■, ^ . -, -, i c i i c 

Delaware, thought, might pcrhaps compensate them for the loss of 
posts on the Chesapeake ; and West eagerly seized the 
opportunity, which his temporary authority afforded, to 
execute the design. A party of fourteen or fifteen En- 
glishmen was accordingly dispatched from Point Comfort, 
August, under the command of George Holmes, to seize the va- 
Fort Nas- caiit Dutcli fort. The enterprise was promptly effected ; 
by Holmes for the Wcst India Company had now "nobody in posses- 
of virgin- siou" to oppose the invaders. But Thomas Hall, one of 



lans. 



Holmes's men, deserting his party, brought prompt intel- 
ligence of the aggression to Fort Amsterdam. t 

Van Twiller now perceived that Fort Nassau must be 
reoccupied by the Dutch, " or they would otherwise lose 
The En- it to the English." An armed bark, belonging to the 
turedand company, was therefore promptly dispatched thither with 
Manhattan a Competent force ; and Holmes and his party were im- 
mediately dislodged, sent on board, and brought as pris- 
oners to Manhattan. 

Their arrival increased the embarrassment of Van T\vil- 

♦ Hazard, i., 337; Boznnan, ii., 32-35; Bancrott, i., 201 ; Ilildreth, i., 210; Chalmers, 
Col. Ann., 231 ; Chalmers's Revolt of the Colonies, i , 63, 64 ; De Vries, 141. After dis- 
solving his partnership with the South River patroons, De Vries sailed a second time 
from the Texel, on the lOlh of July, 1634, to plant a colony at Guiana. Having accom- 
plished this, he went to Virginia, and arrived, on the ITth of May, 1035, at Point ComforL 
Here he found lying at anchor "a fiute ship of London, in which was Sir John Harvey, 
the governor for the King of England. He was now sent to London by his council and 
the people, which have made a now governor, which afterward turned out very badly for 
them." — Voyages, p. 141. 

t De Vries, 143 ; Hoi. Doc, v., 399 ; ii., N. Y. H. S. Coll., ii., 338 



WOUTER VAN TWILLER, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 255 

Icr, who now learned that they had been expecting a re- chap.viii. 
enforcement from Virginia. Meanwhile, De Yries had 
visited Manhattan again, in the ship "King David," and, ,jun'e 
after three months' delay in repairing his leaky vessel, 
which he had " hauled up on the strand," was about to 
sail for the Chesapeake. His opportune presence extri- 
cated the troubled director from his new dilemma. At 
Van Twiller's earnest entreaty, De Vries delayed his voy- iioimesand 
age for a week; the prisoners were sent on board the sent back to 
King David with "pack and sack ;" and two days after-sscpt. 
ward, Holmes and his invading party were relanded at 
Point Comfort. Here a bark was found lying ready to 
sail for the South River, with a force of twenty men on 
board, " to second" the enterprise which Holmes had be- 
gun ; but by the unexpected return of the captured in- 
vaders, " their design was broken up."* Thus ended the 
first actual English aggression on the southern frontier of 
New Netherland ; and the Dutch continued, for several 
years, in undisturbed possession of the South River and 
the Schuylkill. 

The Plymouth people had now been for two years in ProKress 
possession of Windsor, in spite of Van Twiller's prompt gian'l en- 
but ineffectual protest, and subsequent pusillanimous mil-menta. 
itary demonstration. Whatever scruples might, at first, 
have restrained Winthrop and his council from favoring 
the propositions of Winslow and Bradford in the summer 
of 1633, the example of New Plymouth soon infected Mas- 
sachusetts Bay.t At the Greneral Court, Hooker urged em- 1634. 
igration to the Connecticut valley. The want of accom- Hooker 
modation for their cattle at Newtown; "the fruitfulness gr^j^io™'" 
and commodiousness of Connecticut, and the danger of ^'■°"' '^*''''" 
having it possessed by others, Dutch or English ;" and 
" the strong bent of their spirits to remove. thither," were 
the arguments he pressed. To these arguments it was 

* De Vries, 120, 142, 143. The incident to which Winthrop (i., 167, 1G8), and Mather, 
in the Sixth Book of his " Magnalia," allude, as having occurred "at the Dutch planta- 
tion," happened to De Vries's boat on his arrival at New Netherland, 1st of June, 1635. — 
See translation, in ii.,N. Y. 11. S. Coll., iii. 

t LambrecUtsen, 43 ; ii., N. Y. 11. S. Coll., i., 98 ; Verplanck, in N. A. Rev., ix., 86. 



sachusetts 
to Connec- 
ticut. 



256 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. VIII. objected that, " in point of conscience," the Newtown peo- 
pie ouwht not to desert their commonwealth, and that, in 
■ point of civil policy, the court " ought not to give them 
leave to depart." Their emigration would weaken Mas- 
sachusetts ; and "the removing of a candlestick" would 
be " a great judgment." Besides, the emigrants would 
be exposed to great peril, both from the Indians and from 

Leave to the Dutcli, " who made claim to the same river, and had 

refused, already built a fort there ;" and the home government in 
England " would not endure they should sit down, with- 
out a patent, in any place which our king lays claim unto." 
The court was divided in opinion. Three fifths of the dep- 
uties were for granting leave ; but a majority of the mag- 
istrates refused their assent. The two elements in the 
government of the ecclesiastical commonwealth were now 

24 Sept. in opposition. With the aid of a sermon from Cotton, the 
patrician magistrates carried their point against the ple- 
beian deputies ; the Newtown people gave up their proj- 
ect ; and, for a time " the fear of their removal to Con- 
necticut was removed."* 

But the question of emigration was soon revived. Two 

6 Nov. months afterward, ambassadors from the Pequods came to 

Treaty 

with the Boston, and " set their marks" to a treaty, which yielded 
up " all their right at Connecticut" to the Massachusetts 
colony. " To whom did that country belong?" was now 
the inquiry. " Like the banks of the Hudson, it had been 
first explored, and even occupied by the Dutch ; but should 
a log-hut and a few straggling soldiers seal a territory 
against other emigrants?" The colonists of Massachu- 
setts did not stop to argue the question of right with the 
authorities of New Netherland, or even wait for the per- 
mission of the English patentees of Connecticut. Nothing 
could long retard the rush of Puritan emigration to the 
" New Hesperia" on the banks of the Fresh River. De- 
tachments of families from Watertown and Roxbury now 
1635. obtaining leave from the G-eneral Court, " to remove whith- 

6 May. ^^ ^j^gy pleased," provided they continued under the gov- 

* Winthrop, i., 140-142 ; Hutchinson, i., 47 ; Bancroft, i., 3C5, 366. 



WOUTER VAN TWILLER, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 257 

ernment of Massachusetts, journeyed through the wilder- chap.vih 
ness, and began a settlement at Wethersfield ; and "the ^,,.j_ 
Dorchester men," establishing themselves near the Dutch, Emigration 
and just below the Plymouth trading-house at Windsor, [eruJwn!* 
were promptly reproved, by letters from Governor Bradford, a°d u"Jr-' 
for their unrighteous and injurious intrusion.* Thus the Au|ist! 
Plymouth colonists on the Connecticut — themselves in- 
truders within the territory of New Netherland — soon be- 
gan to quarrel with their Massachusetts brethren for tres- 
passing upon their usurped domain. 

Meanwhile, the jealousy of the High Church party in 
England had been aroused against the dissenting colonists 
in America ; and Charles I. constituted William Laud, 1634. 
archbishop of Canterbury, and eleven other Privy Coun- ^® ^^'"'" 
selors, a special commission " for the regulation and gov- Plantation 
ernment of the Plantations." These oommiissioners weretubiishe.iin 
invested with full jx:>wer to make laws for the colonics, 
hear complaints, inflict punishments, remove and appoint 
governors, regulate ecclesiastical affairs, and revoke char- 
ters which were supposed to be hurtful to the royal pre- 
rogative.! 

To this arbitrary body Edward Winslow, who went to July. 
England in the summer of 1634 as the agent of Newvvmsiow 
Plymouth, presented a petition, complaining that the in London. 
French had annoyed the New England Plantations on the 
east, and that "the Dutch in the west have also made 
entry upon Connecticut River, within the limits of His 
Majesty's letters patents, where they have raised a fort, 
and threaten to expel your petitioners thence, who are also- 
planted on the same river." Winslow, therefore, asked 
that the commissioners would either procure for the colo- 
nists " peace with those foreign states, or else give special 
warrant unto your petitioners and the English colonies to 
right and defend themselves against all foreign enemies." 
These propositions, however, did not suit the views of the 



* Winthrop, i., 160, 166 ; Trumbull, i., 60 ; Bancroft, i., 395, 396 ; ii., 283. 
t Winttirop, i., 143 ; Hazard, i., 344 ; Chalmers, 159 ; Hutchinson, j., 442 ; Bancroft, 
I., 407. 

R 



258 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. VIII. Plantation Board, Gorges and Mason were opposed to 
Winslow's petition, because G-orges hoped, through the 
archbishop's influence, to be sent out as Governor Gen- 
eral of all the English colonies. Laud, too, was anxious 
to exercise hierarchal power in America, and stop the 
growth of dissent. Winslow was, therefore, severely ques- 
tioned in the board. He frankly admitted, that "he did 
exercise his gift" in public preaching; and that, as a mag- 
istrate, "he had sometimes married some," for he consid- 
ered marriage " a civil thing," and had himself been mar- 
ried in Holland by the magistrates in their State House. 
But, by the statutes of England, such proceedings were 
unlawful ; and the archbishop readily made out his case 
in the compliant tribunal over which he exercised a para- 
mount influence. Winslow was committed to the Fleet, 
and "lay there seventeen weeks, or thereabouts, before he 
could get to be released."* 
Jealousy of Tlius the iealousv of the home government refused to 
siovern- tlic runtaii colonists any authority to interfere with the 

jnent. . . *^ 

Dutch possessions on the Connecticut. The people of New 
England were esteemed "men of refractory humors;" and 
complaints constantly resounded of their sects and schisms, 
their hostility to the Established Church, and their trea- 
sonable designs against the royal authority. Emigration 

December, was therefore restrained ; the lord warden of the Cinque 
Ports was directed to stop " promiscuous and disorderly 
departure out of the realm to America ;" and persons of 
humble station, who might obtain leave to emigrate, were 
required first to take the oaths of allegiance and suprem- 
acy.t 

ir.toipr.iiuo Laud's watchful intolerance reached even further. 

iiisiiop Wliilc Amsterdam was liberally opening her gates to 

strangers of every race and creed, the Primate of all En- 

1(535. gland, by order of the king, was requiring all the Reform- 

2 January, ^^i^ D^^tch churclios, witliiu tlic provincc of Canterbury, to 
adopt the English Liturgy. J But the attention of the gov- 

* Winlhrop, i., 137, 172; riutchinsoTi, ii., -110. 

t Hazard, i., 317 ; Bancroft, i., 407. t Uymcr Fed., xix., 588; Rapin, ii.. 29.'?. 



■ WOUTEIl VAN TWILLEli, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 059 

ernmcnt was chiefly engaged in checking the emigration chap.vih 
of disart'ected Englishmen to America. A Dutch ship ''of 
four hundred tons," bound to New Netherland, was lying 
at Cowes, ready to sail ; and her officers were reported to 
be drawing " as many of his majesty's subjects as they 
can to go with them, by offering them large conditions." 
To put a stop to " so prejudicial a course," the Privy Coun- 20 March. 
cil dispatched an order to the Earl of Portland, to restrain suhjects 
British subjects from going in that or any other Dutch go to the 
vessel "to the Hollanders' Plantation in Hudson's River."* crs' pianta- 
Three years before, a Dutch ship, coming from Manhattan, 
had been arrested at Plymouth for illegally trading within 
his majesty's alleged dominions. Now the chief care of 
the Privy Council seems to have been to prevent English 
subjects going in Dutch vessels to what the British govern- 
ment recognized, in an official state paper, as " the Hol- 
landers' Plantation." 

The New England patent, which J ames I. had granted in 
1620, had by this time become intolerably odious to Par- 
liament, and the council of Plymouth was in disrepute 
with the High Church party. The patentees, according- 
ly, after conveying by deed, to AVilliam, earl of Stirling, 22 Apm. 
" part of New England, and an island adjacent, called and^con- 
Long Island," divided the residue of the territory between LoVa stir- 
Acadia and Virginia into shares, which they distributed, " 
in severalty, among themselves; and then, under theirT.iune. 

, . The Ni w 

common seal, surrendered their worthless charter to the England 
king. "Thus was dissolved, by voluntary consent, aris- rendered to 
ing from mere debility, the council of Plymouth, so famous 
in the story of New England."! 

At this crisis, .lolm Wmthrop, the son of the governor 
of Massachusetts, revisiting England, confirmed the ac- 
counts, which had already been sent over, of the value 
and importance of Connecticut. Lord Say, and the other 
grantees of Lord Warwick's conveyance in 1632, there- 

* Lend. Doc., i., 55 ; N. Y. Col. MSS., iii., 19. 

t Lond. Doc, i., 118; N. V. Col. \S*5S., iii., 42; Clialiners, 95; Hazard, i., .■)S2, 390, 
393 ; Gorces, in iii., Ma.ss. Hist. Coll., vi., 82, 63 ; Bancroft, i., 408 ; Chalmers's Revolt 
of the Colonics, i., 56 ; ii., N. Y. H. S. Coll., ii., 322, 323. 



26t) HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. VIII. fore took immediate measm-es for the colonization of that 

~ region. Saltonstall promptly dispatched a bark with 

Frstcoio- twenty men, which arrived at Boston in mid-summer. 

connecu-"'^ From there the party proceeded to the Connecticut, with 

its'sngfilh the intention of settling themselves " between the falls 

ul'M^' ^^^ ^^^ Plymouth trucking-house." But Ludlow and the 

Dorchester men defeated Saltonstall's plans ; and their 

selfish conduct soon gave rise to large claims for damages.* 

18 July. The younger Winthrop was soon afterward commissioned, 

thropcom- by Lord Warwick's grantees, as " governor of the River of 

mii3sioned . • i i i t • • i n -n i 

as govern- Connecticut, with the places adjoining thereunto, ' Early 
October, in thc followiug October, he reached Boston, accompanied 
by his father-in-law, Hugh Peters, lately pastor of the En- 
glish church at Rotterdam, and bringing along with him 
" men and ammunition, and two thousand pounds in mon- 
ey, to begin a fortification at the mouth of the river."t 
24 Nov. A few weeks after his arrival at Boston, Winthrop dis- 

takes pes- patchcd a bark of thirty tons, and about twenty men, with 
tiie mouth all nccdful provisious, to take possession of the mouth of 
necticut. thc Coimccticut, and erect some buildings. t This was 
the first regular English occupation of the territory com- 
prehended within Lord Warwick's grant. The officers of 
the Dutch West India Company had purchased this land 
from its Indian occupants three years before, and had af- 
fixed the arms of the States General to a tree, in token of 
their possession of the " Kievit's Hook," and of the river 
The Dutch abovc. Tlicsc arms the English invaders now contemptu- 
down. ously tore down, " and engraved a ridiculous face in their 
place. "§ 

Yan T wilier finding that protests were ineffectual to dis- 
lodge the English intruders from the Fresh River, had, 
meanwhile, applied to the West India Company "for com- 
August. mission to deal with" them summarily. Winthrop's new 
attempt to' party had scarcely reached the mouth of the Connecticut, 
English. * before a sloop, which the director had dispatched from 

* Letter of SaltonBtall to Winthrop, in Mass. Hist. Coll., xviii., 42, 43. 
t Winthrop, i., Ifil, 169, 170, 172; Trumbull, i., 497; Ilildreth, i., 229. 
t Winthrop, i., 173, 174. 
« IIol. Doc, iv., 110 ; ii., N. Y. H. S. Coll., ii., 277 ; ante, 234. 



WOUTER VAN TWILLER, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 261 

Manhattan to secure the possession of the Dutch, arrived chap. vm. 

at the Kievit's Hook. But the English immediately got 

" two pieces on shore, and would not suffer them to land."* December. 

The Dutch being thus repulsed, the English changed 1636. 
the name of Kievit's Hook to " .Say brook," in compliment at'say"' 
to the leading English proprietors of Connecticut, Lord 
Say and Lord Brook. A fort was immediately construct- 
ed at the point, under the superintendence of Lion Gar- Lion Gar- 
diner, an engineer or master workman, who had served 
under the Prince of Orange in Holland, and who had been 
induced by Jolin Davenport and Hugh Peters, of Rotter- 
dam, to enter into the service of the English patentees of 
Connecticut. After remaining four years in command of 
the post at Saybrook, Gardmer removed his family to the 1640. 
island which now bears his name, at the eastern extrem- 
ity of Long Island. t 

Though the Massachusetts emigrants had originally 
gone to the Connecticut valley under a stipulation to con- 
tinue in allegiance to the General Court, the territory upon 
which they planted themselves was distinctly admitted to 
be " out of the claim of the Massachusetts patent." A 
new settlement was, however, soon commenced at a place J 636. 
which was actually within the chartered limits of Massa- 
chusetts Bay. Early in 1636, William Pynchon, with wmiam 
eight other persons, emigrated from Roxbury to the upper begins'a 
part of the Connecticut River, and built a trading-house at spring- 
at " Agawam." The original Indian name of that place 
was immediately changed to " Springfield," after the town 
in England where Pynchon had formerly lived. This new 
settlement brought the English within a few miles of the 
Dutch post at Fort Orange. A large peltry trade, divert- 

* Winthrop, i., 166, 175 ; Trumbull, i., 61. 

+ Winthrop, i., 174, 175; Hubbard, 179; Lion Gardiner, in Mass. Hist. Coll., xxiii., 
136 ; Trumbull, i., 61, 110. De Vrius, p. 149, speaks of Gardiner, whom he found in com- 
mand at Saybrook, on the 7th of June, 1639, as having married a Dutch wife at Woer- 
den, in Holland, wliere he liad " formerly been an engineer and baas-workman." The 
Dutch ])lirase " werk-baas," or '' work-master" — so familiar to thi.s day in New York — 
seems to have been quite unintelligible to the learned editor of Winthrop. — Savage's note, 
i., p. 174. Several interesting particulars of (iardiner's biography (whose baptismal 
name was Lion, and not David, as Trumbull and Savage affirm) may be found in Thomp- 
son's Long Island, i., 305, 306, and in Mass. Hist. Coll., xxiii., 136. 



262 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. VIII. ed from the North River, soon rewarded the enterprise of 
Pynchon ; and the good judgment, which originally led 
him to occupy so advantageous a spot, has since been 
amply vindicated in the prosperity of the flourishing city 
of Springfield.* 
Extent of Thus English progress, step by step, encroached upon 
.iett°iements. the territories of the West India Company, until nearly 
the whole valley of the " Fresh River" was wrested from 
its rightful European proprietors. The annals of coloni- 
zation " can scarcely show the commencement of a settle- 
ment so extremely faulty as that of Connecticut." In a 
short time, the " Hope," at Hartford, was all the foothold 
which the Dutch had left to them in Eastern New Neth- 
erland. From Sagadahoc to Saybrook, the Anglo-Saxon 
race was now without a European rival ; and the advanc- 
ing tide of its population was soon to roll still nearer to 
Manhattan. It was its destiny ultimately to triumph ; 
and numbers and assurance carried the day against few- 
Trie Euro- ness and equity. Yet the true European title, by ac- 

pean title to i • ... i 

Long isi- tual discovery and continuous visitation, to the coasts of 

and and *^ 

Connect!- Long Island Sound and the valley of the Connecticut, was 
clearly and undeniably in the Dutch. As far as there 
was any color of English title to the region south of the 
Massachusetts line, that title was vested in the grantees 
of the Earl of Warwick, or, after the surrender of the 
Plymouth charter, in the crown. The Puritan colonists 
who first settled themselves on the Connecticut, and en- 
deavored to expel the Hollanders from the territory which 
they had carefully explored long before it was seen or 
known by the English, did so without a shadow of title 
from the Plymouth Company, under whom they professed 
to claim ; and it was not until two years after the Resto- 
1662. ration of Charles II., that a royal charter gave the people 
of Connecticut the territorial security which they desired 

* Chalmers, 287; Hutchinson, i., 95; Trumbull, i., 66; Young, Ch. Mass., 283; Vcr- 
toogh Tan N. N., in ii., N. Y. H. S. Coll., ii., 273. This post is marked on Visscher's and 
Van der Donck's maps of New Netherland as "Mr. Pinser's handel-huys." 



WOUTER VAN TWILLER, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 26o 

against those whom they denounced as their " noxious chap. viii. 
neidibors, the Dutch."* 

1 AQA 

If the relations of New Netherland with its colonial neigh- t. . 

o Domestic 

bors were not satisfactory, the condition of its homo aflairs ^'I'lv Vc'ih- 
was quite as unpromising. After conveying to Point Com- "'""'^ 
fort the English prisoners captured at Fort Nassau, and as- 
certaining that Virginia was " not a good place for Holland- 
ers to trade at," De Vries returned to Manhattan in the 
following spring. Reachmg Sandy Hook toward evening, 
he piloted the King David safely up to Fort Amsterdam, s May. 
off which he anchored about two o'clock the next morn- returns to 

-, . Manhattan. 

mg, without any one on shore bemg aware ol his arrival. 
No sentinels were on post ; no challenge hailed the ship. 
At daybreak the vessel fired a salute of tlu'ee guns, and 
the sleepy garrison " sprung suddenly out of bed, for they 
were not accustomed to have one come u})on them so by 
surprise." De Vries, however, was kindly welcomed by ig May. 
the director ; and his leaky ship was soon hauled into the suip at the 
" Smid's Vleye," where she was careened and repaired.! vieye." 
A few days afterward, Van Twiller, accompanied by De 25 June. 
Vries and Domine Bogardus, went across the river, oppo- van voorst. 
site to Fort Amsterdam, on a visit to Pavonia, where Cor- new super- 
nelis van Voorst had just arrived as " head commander" at Pavonia. 
for Michael Pauw, the patroon. Van Voorst had come out 
in a small English bark, and had brought along with him 
some " good Bordeaux wine" from the north of England. 
The director, who was always " glad to taste good wine," 
therefore hastened across the river to greet Pauw's new 
officer. While the party were enjoying themselves. Van 
Twiller and Bogardus had " some words" with the pa- 
troon's commissary, about a murder which had just been 

* Chalmers, 288; Letter of General Assembly of Connecticut to Lord Say and Seal, 
7th of June 1G61, in Trumbull, i., 512 ; N. A. Review, viii., 85 ; Lambrechtsen, 43 ; ii., N. 
y. H. S. Coll., i., 98 ; post, p. 695, 702 ; see also note L, Appendix. 

t De Vries's Voyages, 141. This is the first mention of the " Smid's VIeyc," or Smith'.s 
Valley, which was the old familiar name of the marshy ground between the East River 
and Pearl Street, and Pine and Fulton Streets. When the " Maagde Padtje," or Maiden 
Lane, was extended beyond Pearl Street throuijh this marsh, in Lord Uellomont's time, 
a market-house was built at the head of the slip. This was orijrinally called the "Vleye 
Market," or market in the swamp. The English soon corrupted the name into ''Fly 
Market," by which it continued to be known until it was taken down a few years ago.— 
See also Judge Benson's Memoir, p. 128, aod Moulton's " New York in 1673," p. 23. 



264 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. VIII. committed at Pavonia. But they eventually parted good 

~~~~~ friends ; and as the director was returnins: to Fort Am- 
1636 

sterdam, Van Voorst fired a salute in his honor from a 

swivel which was mounted on a pile in front of his house. 

A spark unfortunately flying on the roof, which was 

thatched with reeds, set it in a blaze, and in half an hour 

the whole building was burned down. 

July. Another characteristic incident happened soon afterward 

Van Twil- ,r , „ t-i i- i i • 

ler'sarbi- at Manhattan, borne JjiUglishmen, having captured two 

trary con- i • i ixr t t • ^ c^ 

duct. small vessels in the West indies, took them into the South 
River, where they were found by one of the Dutch trad- 
ing sloops, which immediately brought them to Fort Am- 
sterdam. There the Englishmen sold their prizes, and 
shipped their goods on board the company's vessel, the 
" Seven Stars," which was loading for Holland. The 
English captain wished to have his goods sent by the ship 
of De Vries, who was willing to convey all his men at the 
same time to Europe. But the director would not con- 
sent to this arrangement, as it would interfere with the 
company's monopoly, though he compelled De Vries to 
take ten of the Englishmen on board his vessel ; "all which 
trading by force was very unreasonable." 

8 August. When the ships were nearly ready to sail, the constable 

Theconsta- » „ , , . , ' . 

bie at Fort of i^ort Amsterdam gave a parting banquet to his returning 

Amsterdam . , i i i i 7 i i 

gives a ban- countrymen. A table and benches were arranged under 
a tent on one of the angles of the fort overlooking the pla- 
cid bay, and a large company invited. When the feast 
was at its height, the trumpeter began to blow ; and some 
words passed, because the koopman of the shop, Hendrick 

•'Coriaer Huddcu, and the koopman of the cargoes "scolded Corlaer 

llie Trump- ' . ... 

eter." the Trumpeter." As valiant as he was skilled in music, 
Corlaer instantly gave them each " a drubbing ;" upon 
which they ran home vowing vengeance, and got their 
swords. But they contented themselves with "many fool- 
ish words" at the director's house ; their soldiership evap- 
orated over night ; and in the morning " they feared the 
trumpeter more than they sought him." 

The irregularities in Van Twiller's government, which 



WOUTER VAN TWILLER, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 265 

De Vries had so often witnessed at Manhattan, did not, chap.vhi 
however, prevent him from appreciating the advantages 
of a well-organized colony in New Netherland. Not dis- ^^ vries 
couraged by his failure at iSwaanendael five years before, ^1™ via 
he now determined to establish a settlement nearer to J^'^^lZl"^ 
Fort Amsterdam, where he supposed it would, at all j",^'^^'^'" 
events, be more secure from the attacks of the Indians. 
Staten Island, which Pauw had already appropriated, 
seemed to offer unusual advantages ; and De Vries re- 
quested the director to enter it for him, as he "wished to 13 August, 
return and organize again a colony there." Van Twiller 
readily agreed to do so; and the prospective patroon, after 
wooding and watering his ship up the river, at the " Grroote- 
val, which lies three miles beyond Menates Island," im- 15 August, 
mediately set sail for Holland.* 

The colonial officers of New Netherland did not neglect Lauds tak- 

.. 1-11 •1P1 • 1- en up by the 

the opportunities which they enjoyed 01 advancing their provincial 
own private mterests. Jacob van Curler, the former com- 
missary at Fort Good Hope, now purchased from the In- le June. 
dians a flat of land called " Castateeuw," on Sewan-hacky 
or Long Island, " between the bay of the North River and 
the East River ;" and Thomas Hall, the English deserter, 
was hired to superintend the plantation. At the same 
time, Andries Hudde, one of the provincial council, in 
partnership with Wolfert Grerritsen, purchased the mead- 
ows next west to Van Curler's. A month afterward. Van lo juiy. 
Twiller himself secured the level grounds further to the 
east. These purchases, which were estimated to include 
nearly fifteen thousand acres, seem to have been made 
without the knowledge or approbation of the Amsterdam 
Chamber. Flourishing settlements soon arose, which, New Am- 
coUectively receiving the name of New Amersfoordt, after orViat- '' 
that of the interesting old town in Utrecht, where the il- founded. 
lustrious Barneveldt was born, were the germ of the pres- 
ent town of Flatlands.t 

About the same time, Roelof Jansen, who had been as- 

* De Vries, 145, 146. 

t Alb. Rec. G. G., 31-39 ; ii., N. Y. II. S. Coll., ii., 338 ; O'Call., i., 172 ; Thompson's 
Long Island, ii., 182; Valentine's Manual for 1850, 542-544. 



266 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ciiAP.viif. sistant superintendent of farms at Rensselaerswyck, 6h- 
tained from Van Twiller a grant of thirty -one morgens, or 
uoeiof and «ixty-t\vo acrcs of land, on Manhattan Island, a little to 
f^nseu's the northwest of Fort Amsterdam. This was the original 
oi Fort Am- conveyance of the very valuable estate north of Warren 
sterdiim. g^j.gg|;^ jj^ ^]^g pj^y ^f ]\[ew Yorlv, uow iu the possession of 

the corporation of Trinity church.* 

vauDinck- Van Twillcr's irregular administration did not, however, 

dered to re- cscapc the sevcre criticism of some of his own subordinates ; 

land. among whom Van Dincklagen, the schout-fiscal, did not 

hesitate openly to censure his chief. This conduct was 

looked upon as contumacious ; and Van Dincklagen was 

refused the payment of his arrears of salary, and ordered 

uirichLu- to return to Holland. XJlrich Lupoid, a Hanoverian, was 

pointed temporarily appointed in his place. In thus arbitrarily 

cai. displacing, perhaps, the most learned and accomplished 

man in the province. Van Twiller relieved himself, indeed, 

from the presence of an honest censor, but he eventually 

secured his own recall. Well might De Vries indignantly 

exclaim, as he observed Van Twiller's incapacity, that 

" the company had promoted him from a clerkship to a 

commandership, to act farces" in New Netherland.t 

Colonic of The colonic of Rensselaerswyck had meanwhile pros- 

Rensse- . c i i 

laerswyck. pered uudcr the careful supermtendence of Arendt van 
Curler; and the modest hamlet of " Beverswyck" had ex- 
tended itself around the walls of Fort Orange. The fer- 
tile soil yielded abundant crops to the laborious farmers ; 
pike and sturgeon, and other choice fish, abounded in the 
river and creeks ; and deer and wild turkeys overstocked 
the neighboring forests. The emigrants, happy in abun- 
dant prosperity, wrote joyous letters home ; and fresh col- 
onists, in large numbers and of substantial means, came 

« Paige's Chancery Reports, iv., 178; Benson's Memoir, 110; Rensselaerswyck MSS. ; 
O'Call., i., 142 ; ii., 35, 581. Roelof Jansen, whoso name survives in that of the " Kill"' 
which empties into the North River, between Hudson and Red Hook, died soon after this 
grant was passed ; and his widow married Domine Hogardus, about the year 1638. After 
that, Annetjc Bogardus's farm on Manhattan was called the " Domine's Bouwery." In 
1647, Annetjc was again a widow, and soon afterward returned to Beverwyck, where 
she died in 1003. 

t Hoi. Doc, ii., 167, 169, 171, 17.3, 177, 178-181 ; De Vries, Voyages, 113; ii., N. Y. II 
S. Coll., ii., 291. 



WOUTER VAN TWILLEll, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 267 

out from Holland in the autumn of 1636. Van Rensse-CHAP.viii. 
laer now desired to enlarge his extensive domain ; and 
the schipper of his vessel was instructed to assist the co- ' ' 

lonial olHcers in accomplishing this purpose. The next 
spring they accordingly purchased the tract called " Pap- 13 April, 
sikaen," on the east side of the river, extending southward laudpur- 
Irom Castle Island to Smack's Island, and running a con- the east 
siderable distance into the interior. With this addition, river, 
the colonie of Rcnsselaerswyck, around the West India 
Company's northernmost fort, now included a territory, on 
both sides of the North River, comprehending a large part 
of the present counties of Albany, Rensselaer, and Co- 
lumbia.* 

Soon afterward, Van T wilier purchased from the In- lo June, 
dians, for his private use, the island which they called ler pur- 

,. i-i 1 f-n 1 chases Pag- 

" ragganck," lymg a little south of Fort Amsterdam, ganck or 

mi • 1 1 1 • 1 • • Nmien I.sl- 

ihis island, which was then estimated to contain a hund-and. 
red and sixty acres of land, was originally called by the 
Dutch " Nooten," or Nutten Island, " because excellent 
nut-trees grow there." After its purchase by Van Twil- 
ler, it began to be known as " the Grovernor's Island," 
which old familiar name survives to the present day. 
The next month, the director bought two islands in theiojuiy. 
Hell-gate River, the largest of which, called Tenkenas, islands in 
contained about two hundred acres, and Minnahonnonck, River. 
the smallest, about one hundred and twenty acres. Van 
Twiller was now one of the largest private land-owners in 
New Netherland ; and the herds of cattle which soon 
stocked his flourishing farms, gave occasion to shrewd sur- 
mises that the dkector had not hesitated to enrich him- 
self at the expense of the company's interests.! 

Some grants of land were lilcewise obtained by unoffi- George 
cial persons. Among these, Joris or G-eorge Rapelje, one talus a 
of the original Walloon colonists of Long Island, procured waai-ho»'i . 

* Renss. MSS. ; O'Call., i., 121, 326 ; De Vries, 153 ; Megapolensis's Tract on the Mo- 
hawk Indians, in Hazard, i., 518. Mr. Barnard affirms that, " about 1637, the patroon of 
this colony appeared in person to take charge of his estate and his people ;" but there does 
not seem to be any evidence to support this assertion ; s^apost, p. 531. 

t Alb. Rec, G. G., 41, 46; De Laet. ix. ; O'Call., i., 174, 182; Valentine's Manual for 
1850, 544, 545. 



268 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. VIII. the formal confirmation of a tract near the "Waal-bogt.* 
A pleasing tradition asserts, that the Indians had relin- 

iG June, quished their title to the Walloons upon the bu'th of Rap- 
elje's daughter Sarah, in the month of June, 1625, because 
she was the first white child born in New Netherland.t 

•Jonas Soon afterward, Jonas Bronck became the owner of the 

Bronck's 

p^^c^as^em " Ranaque tract," on the "main land" of West Chester, 
t""". east of and "over against" what is now known as Haer- 

lem.l 
The com- About the samc time, the Indian title to the island of 
cures the " Quotcnis," near the " Roode Island," in Narragansett Bay, 
Quotenis, was sccurcd for the West India Company, and a trading- 

in Narra- ii-iii i i- i r 

gansett post was established there, under the superintendence of 
Abraham Pietersen. Not long afterward, Pietersen obtain- 
ed for the company the possession of another island, lying 
near the Pequod, or Thames River, which, for many years 

Dutch- after the settlement of Connecticut by the English, con- 
man's isi- . , . T-r\11T1111C 

and. tmued to be known as " the Dutchman s Island. "v 

The directors at Amsterdam also succeeded in purchas- 
ing from Michael Pauw his territorial rights as patroon, for 
which they paid him twenty-six thousand guilders. By 

Pavonia this arrangement, Pavonia and Staten Island became the 

and Staten ^ i • i t-i i 

Island. property of the company ; and the annoyance which rauw s 

independent colony had caused was at length stopped. II 
Fur trade Up to this time the fur trade had steadily increased ; 

m New ^ 

Nether- and notwithstanding the loss of their sole traffic on the 
Connecticut, the directors received returns from their prov- 
ince, during the year 1635, amounting to nearly one hund- 

* Alb. Rec, G. G. ; Valentine's Manual for 1850, 545, 546. 

t Judge Benson, in his Memoir, p. 94, gives the following extract from the Council 
Records in 1656: "Sarah Jonsan, tke first-born Christian, daui^kter in New Nethcrlanil, 
widow of Hans Hansen, burthcncd with seven children, petitions for a grant of a piece of 
meadow, in addition to the twenty morgens (forty acres) granted to her at the Waal-bogt." 
In consideration of her situation and birth, Stuyvesant and his council assented to her 
petition.— Alb. Rec, xi. (P.), 3."i2 ; Moulton, 371, note; ante, p. 154. 

X Benson's Memoir, 97 ; Bolton's West Chester, ii., 280, 283, 289, 302 ; O'Call., i., 250 ; 
ii., 581. " Bronck's Kill," now known as " Bronx River," derived its name from this Jo- 
nas Bronck. 

() Hoi. Doc, vii., 78 ; Verbael van Bcverninck, 608 ; Alb. Rec, i., 89 ; xviii., 291 ; O'Call.. 
I., 174. There is an island now marked on the large official map of Massachusetts, of 
1844, as " Dutch Island." It is in the channel west of Canonicut, and north of the Beaver 
Tail Light. 

II IIol. Doc, v., 400; ii., N. Y. II. S. Coll., ii., 338; O'Call., i., 199. 



land. 



WOUTER VAN TWILLER, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 269 

red and thirty-five thousand s^uilders.* Besides enjoying chap. viii. 
the monopoly in New Netherland, the company had open- ; 
ed a profitable commerce with New England ; and Dutch ^niaic 
ve-^sels brought tobacco and salt from the "West Indies, EniiJllZ 
and Flanders mares, and oxen, and sheep, from Holland 
to Boston. " They came from the Tcxel in five weeks 
three days, and lost not one beast or sheep." All these 
commodities bore high prices in New England, where 
there was now a scarcity of provisions. Potatoes, from nigh prices 
Bermuda, were sold at Boston for two-pence the pound ; sions!^'* 
a good cow was worth twenty-five or thirty pounds, and a 
pair of oxen readily fetched forty. The cattle in Connec- 
ticut did not thrive. In Virginia corn rose to twenty shil- 
lings the bushel. The scarcity in New England and Vir- 
ginia affected the prices of provisions and the value of la- 
bor in New Netherland. Before the close of 1637, a 
schepel, or three pecks of rye, was sold for two guilders, 
or eighty cents ; and a laboring man readily earned two 
guilders a day during harvest.! These prices were prob- 
ably caused, in some degree, by the bloody war which 
was now raging in Connecticut. 

For the Puritan colonists of New England had become 1634. 
embroiled with their aboriginal neighbors. The Pequods m" Pequod 
had failed to surrender the murderers of Stone, according ^"' 
to their treaty at Boston ; and had tendered, instead, an 
atonement of wampum. But Massachusetts insisted upon 
avenging blood with blood. Soon afterward, John Old- 1636. 
ham, the adventurous overland explorer of the Connecti- oi!iham-.s 
cut, was assassinated by the Block Island Indians, who '""'^'''^'^' 
seem to have become jealous at his trading with the Pe- 
quods, under their treaty with Massachusetts. The mag- 
istrates and ministers immediately assembled at Boston, 25 Au.!,Tist. 
and commissioned John Endicott to proceed, with a force Endicotfs 
of ninety men, to Block Island, of which he was directed 
to take possession, after putting to death all the warriors, 
and making prisoners all the women and children. From 

* De Laet, App., 30. 

t Alb. Rec, i., 89 ; ii., 59 ; Wlnthrop, 1., 160, 161, 182, 187, 191, 206. 



270 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. VIII. Block Island lie was to go to the Pequods, and demand 
the murderers of Stone, and a thousand fathoms of wam- 
pum as damages : if satisfaction were refused, the expe- 
dition was "to obtain it by force." 

Endicott promptly executed his " sanguinary orders." 
Diockisi- The Block Island savages fled at the approach of the En- 
latsd. glish invaders ; and Endicott "burned their wigwams, and 
all their matts, and some corn, and staved seven canoes, 
and departed." Thence he went to Say brook, where he 
was re-enforced by twenty men. In a few days, the expe- 
The Pe- dition sailed for the Pequod River. After burning all the 
wains de- wigwams, and spoiling the canoes of the Pequods, Endi- 
14 Sept.' cott returned to Boston, having done more than enough to 
exasperate, but nothing to subdue the now implacable en- 
emy of the English. 

The fatal consequences of Endicott's expedition were 

Exaspera- soon felt by the colonists on the Connecticut. The Pe- 

t'equods. quods, arouscd to vengeance, lurked about the new fort 

at Say brook, and killed several of the garrison. During 

the whole winter, the post was in a state of siege ; and 

J 637. Grardiner, the commandant, going with a small party a 

little beyond the range of its guns, was surprised by an 

Indian ambush, and forced to seek safety in a rapid re- 

Reveiige treat. Wethersfield, too, felt the bitterness of savage re- 

at Say. vengc. Scquceu, aggrieved by the conduct of the English, 

Wethers- wliom hc had been the means of attractinsf thither, insti- 

April. gated the Pequods, who killed nine of the colonists, and 

carried two maidens away into captivity. 

Apprehension was now felt that the Dutch, " who, by 

their speeches and supplies out of Holland," had excited 

the suspicions of their New England neighbors, would re- 

saybrook posscss thcmselvcs of Saybrook. Captain John Underbill 

for^d. was, therefore, promptly sent from Boston to the mouth of 

^" ' the Connecticut, with a re-enforcement of twenty men, "to 

keep the fort." But Van Twiller, instead of attempting 

to expel the harassed English from the " Kievit's Hoeck," 

dispatched a sloop from Manhattan to the Thames River, 

near which the Dutch had now a trading post, with or- 



WOUTER VAN TWILLER, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 27J 

ders " to redeem the two English maids by what means chap.viii. 
soever, though it were with a breach of their peace with 
the Pequods." Touching at Saybrook, the Dutch vessel ^.^c duu-u 
was stopped by the English, who would not allow her toJ,^gf,^"'* 
proceed until her officers stipulated, by "a note under ^^^({',^,"[1;* 
their hands," to make the release of the two Wethcrsfield ^^''"'**^''" 
girls "their chief design." On reaching the Thames Riv- 
er, the Manhattan officers made large offers to the Pequods 
for the ransom of the English captives ; " but nothing 
would be accepted." So the Dutch detained six or seven 
of the Pequods on board of their sloop ; and with them they 
redeemed the two maidens, who were conveyed to Man- 
hattan, and, not long afterward, safely restored to their 
countrymen at Saybrook. 

An exterminating war against the Pequods was now i May. 
decreed by the colonists of Hartford, Windsor, and Weth- ruI'ii unit.; 
ersfield ; and Massachusetts and New Plymouth resolved inate tiie 
to assist Connecticut. John Mason, who had been bred a "^"^^ 
soldier in the Netherlands, was solemnly intrusted with 
the command ; and, after a night spent in prayer, an En- 
glish force of ninety men, accompanied by Uncas, the chief 
of the Mahicans, and sixty of his warriors, embarked in lo May. 
three vessels at Hartford, and dropped down to Saybrook, 
where the party was re-enforced by Underbill with his 
twenty men. The expedition soon reached the Narragan- n May. 
sett Bay, where the English were further strengthened by reaches 
the chief sachem, Miantonomoh, and two hundred of his sett Hay 
warriors ; and the combined forces pressed onward to the 
strong-holds of the Pequods, on the Mistic River. At dawn 26 May. 
of day, the assailants, in two divisions, led by Mason and 
Underbill, attacked the fortified village at the summit of 
a commanding eminence. The Pequods, taken by sur- 
prise, fought with the energy of despair ; but their arrows 
and robes of fur availed them little against the muskets 
and corselets of the New England men, now "bereaved of 
pity, and without compassion." No quarter was given ; tuc Pe- 
no mercy was shown. Six hundred souls, warriors and lage de- 
women, old men and children, perished in the indiscrim- 



272 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

Chap. VIII. inate carnage. The rising sun shone on the smoking ru- 
~~~ ins of the devastated village. A band of warriors from the 
second Pequod fort pursued the retreating conquerors ; but 
the English safely reached their vessels, where they were 
joined by Captain Daniel Patrick, who had just come on 
from Boston with forty men. The victorious expedition 
returning to Saybrook, was welcomed by Gardiner with 
joyous salvos of artillery. 
June. The fate of the remaining Pequods was now sealed. 

The sav- , . 

ages hunt- Stoughtou soou arrived at Saybrook with re-enforcements 

west of from Massachusetts ; and the flying savages were pur- 
sued as far westward as "within twenty or thirty miles 
of the Dutch." At a head of land, near what is now 

13 July. Gruilford, the English beheaded two sachems ; " where- 
upon they called the place Sachem's Head." Near what 
is now Fairfield, a remnant of the devoted tribe was hunt- 
ed into "a most hideous swamp," and many warriors per- 
ished. Two hundred old men, women, and children were 
taken prisoners, reduced to bondage, and divided among 
the conquering European troops ; and not long afterward, 
some of the wretched captives were exported from Bos- 
ton, and sold as slaves in the West Indies. The scalp of 
Sassacus, the Pequod chief, was sent in triumph from 
Connecticut to Massachusetts Bay. Scarcely a sannup, 
a warrior, a squaw, or a child of the Pequod name sur- 

Extermin. vivcd. An aboriginal nation had been almost extermin- 
ated.* 

The tragedy which was thus awfully accomplished was 
performed, indeed, within the eastern territories of New 
Netherland, but by other actors than the Dutch. The 
victorious warfare of the New England colonists secured 
for them nearly forty years of comparative peace, and their 
courageous vigor has well received the most eloquent ap- 
plause. Yet no habitual veneration of ancestral fame 
should justify the unvaried panegyric of all ancestral 

* Winthrop, i., 189,193-235; Morton's Memorial, 185-195 ; Hubbard's Narrative ; Col. 
Rec. Conn., 9 ; Mason, in Ma.ss. IJist. Coll., xviii., 131-151 ; Gardiner, in M. H. Coll., xxiii., 
13f>-154 ; Underbill, in M. H. Coll., xxvi., 4-25 ; Chalmers, 291, 292 ; Trumbull, i., 69-93 ; 
Bancroft, i., 397-402 ; llildrcth, i., 238-252. 



WOUTER VAN TWILLER, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 273 

works, or cloak from calm review the full significance of chap.vih 
inconvenient truth. The Pequod war, unrighteously be- 
gun, ruthlessly achieved, was the first serious attempt of 
the white race to extirpate the red race from the northern 
regions of America. Its injurious effects did not end with 
the subjugation and enslavement of its surviving victims. 
Their coveted land was indeed won. But the seeds of 
enmity were sown for ages ; and it was not long after 
that the Dutch colonists on the North River were obliged 
to witness as murderous scenes as did the Puritan con- 
querors of Connecticut. 

Meanwhile, Van Dincklagen, on returning to Holland, 1636. 
had severely reviewed Van Twiller's government, in a me- va.t runcl- 
morial to the States General, which was immediately re- iioiiand. 
ferred to the Amsterdam Chamber, with an intimation 
that they should make prompt satisfaction to their injured 
officer, whose salary was now three years in arrear. The 
schout-fiscal's complaints, however, were not confined to complains 
the civil authorities of New Netherland. Domine Bogar- van twii- 
dus was also censured, and to such an extent that, when gardus. 
the report of the accusations reached Manhattan, the Con- 
sistory of the Church felt it their duty to take "ecclesias- 
tical proceedings" against Van Dincklagen, which, several 
years afterward, they were obliged to defend before the 
Classis of Amsterdam.* But the answer which the di- 
rectors tardily gave to the peremptory order of the States 2d October 
(jreneral was a virtual denial of justice. It only produced 
a fresh memorial from the resolute schout-fiscal, who re- 
newed his complaints against the colonial administration 1637. 
of the company, and invoked the interposition of the home Actio" or 
government so earnestly, that their High Mightinesses at ["^^ °""^'' 



' govern- 
iiieiit. 



* Hoi. Doc, ii., 167, 169 ; Correspondence of the Classis of Amsterdam. The memorial 
and papers which Van Dincklagen presented, on the 30th of August to the States General, 
are not now in the Archives at the Hague— at least, 1 was unable to find them, after a 
careful search. They were probably never returned by the Amsterdam directors, to whom 
tlicy had been sent ; and their loss is especially to be regretted, as they, no doubt, con- 
tained an interesting review of Van Twiller's administration. The Correspondence of the 
Classis of Amsterdam, which I procured for the General Synod of the R. D. Church, con- 
tains several references to Van Dincklagen's case ; and on the 18th of July, 1638, it ap- 
pears that Bogardus applied to the Council of New Netherland for leave to return to Hol- 
land and defend himself. — Alb. Rec, ii., 17 ; post, p. 614, note 

s 



274 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



1637. 



Van Twil- 
ler super- 
seded. 



William 
Kiefl cho- 
sen as di- 
rector. 



•J Sept. 

Kiefl com- 
niiHHioncd 
iiiiii sworn, 



length " seriously" urged the College of the XIX. to grant 
him full redress.* 

It was now apparent, even to the Amsterdam Chamber, 
that a change must be made in the government of New 
Netherland, The constant reiteration of charges against 
their chief provincial officer damaged the reputation of the 
company at home ; and the testimony of De Vries, on his 
return to Holland, probably turned against Van T wilier 
the scale which had been kept wavering through the in- 
fluence of the directors with whom he was connected. The 
College of the XIX. resolved to remove him at once, and 
appoint a successor, who, with perhaps more capacity and 
experience, seems to have been quite as unfit to direct the 
destinies of a state. 

William Kieft was the person selected. An apparently 
unfriendly pen has recorded a few indicative anecdotes of 
his earlier life. He was born at Amsterdam, where he 
was brought up as a merchant. After doing business 
awhile at Rochelle, he became a bankrupt ; and his por- 
trait, according to the uncompromising rule of those days, 
was affixed to the gallows of that city. Some time after 
his failure, he was sent to ransom some Christians in Tur- 
key, where, it was alleged, he basely left in bondage sev- 
eral captives, whose friends had placed in his hands large 
sums of money for the purchase of their liberty.! 

To such an agent the West India Company determined 
to intrust the government of their American Province. 
One of the members of the Amsterdam Chamber, Elias 
de Raedt, was accordingly sent to the Hague, to solicit 
from the States Greneral a commission for Kieft as Van 
Twiller's successor. The request was promptly granted ; 
and the new director, in presence of the grave Assembly, 
took his oath of office. t 



* IIol. Doc, ii., 171-173, 177, 178. 

t De Vries, 147, 149 ; Broeden Raedt, 10 ; International Mag. for Dec, 1851, p. 697. 

t Hoi. Doc, ii., 183. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 275 



CHAPTER IX. 
1638-1641. 

Early in the spring of 1638, William Kieft, the fifth chap. ix. 
director general of the West India Company's North Amer- 
ican Province, arrived at Manhattan, after an unusually o^ ^3^^^ 
protracted voyage; the "Herring," in which he sailed J^p^'°^. 
from Holland, having taken the southerly course, and lin- Manhattan. 
gered over winter at the Bermudas, for fear of approach- 
ing the coasts of New Netherland, in the stormy season, 
with inexperienced pilots.* 

Kieft was an active, " inquisitive," rapacious person ; in Kion •* 
almost every respect the opposite of Van Twiller. In the and admin- 

1 TV T-i 1 1 -1 istration. 

judgment of his New England contemporaries, he was "a 
more discreet and sober man" than his predecessor. But 
the history of his troubled administration does not war- 
rant us in considering him " a prudent man" or a good 
chief magistrate.! The official records of New Nether- 
land, which are wanting before, have fortunately been 
preserved, in an almost unbroken series, from the time of 
Kieft's inauguration ; and they afford authentic and co- 
pious materials for the historian.^ 

The new director organized his council so as to keepKiefts 
the entire control in his hands. Johannes la Montagne, 8 Apni.' 
a Huguenot physician, who had emigrated to New Neth- 
erland the year before, was appointed a counselor, with 
one vote at the board, while Kieft reserved two votes to 
himself. Cornelis van Tienhoven, of Utrecht, who had sec°retar>* 
been for several years the company's book-keeper of wages, fiscJ!' 

* Alb. Rec, i., 89 ; De Vries, 149. f Winthrop, i., 299 ; u.. 316. 

t Soe note M, Appendix. 



276 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



1638. 



Chap. IX. was HOW made provincial secretary ; and Ulrich Lupoid, 
whom Van Twiller had appointed in the place of Dinck- 
lagen, continued for a short time to act as schout-fiscal. 
Kieft's council managed all the general affairs of the 
province, and vv^as the supreme court of justice. " It was 
a high crime," said Van der Donck, a few years after- 
ward, " to appeal from their judgments." This organiza- 
tion, however, was occasionally modified, for " whenever 
any thing extraordinary occurred, the director allowed 
some whom it pleased him — officers of the company for 
the most part — to he summoned in addition ; but that sel- 
dom happened."* 

Condition Finding that the company's affairs were in a ruinous 

^^anhattan. Condition, the director caused a formal statement of their 
situation to he recorded. Fort Amsterdam was dilapida- 
ted, and " open on every side," except " at the stone point;" 
all the guns were dismounted ; the house in the fort, the 
church, the lodge, and the other buildings "required con- 
siderable repair." Even the place where the magazine 
for merchandise once stood could " with difficulty be dis- 
covered." Almost every vessel, except the yacht " Prince 
"William," and another on the stocks, was in the " worst 
condition." Only one of the three wind-mills was in oper- 
ation ; another was out of repair ; the third was burned. 
The five farms of the company were untenanted, and 
thrown into commons ; and all the cattle with which they 
had been stocked had " been disposed of in other hands." 

Van Twii- But if Van Twiller failed to administer the affairs of the 
province satisfactorily, he took care to improve his private 
estate. A few days after his supersedure, he hired from 

•22Aiini. Kieft the company's "farm, number one," at a yearly 
rent of two hundred and fifty guilders, and a sixth part 
of all the produce ; and the inventory of the late clerk- 
director's property exhibited svich an ample estate, that 
many could not help contrasting it with the sorry condi- 
tion in which he had left every thing else.t 

* Alb. Rcc, ii., 1, 2 ; Vertoogh van N. N., in IIol. Doc, iv., 74, and in ii., N. Y. H. S. 
Coll., ii., 299. t Alb. Uec, i., 3, 89, 91, 101 ; ii., N. V. H. S. Coll., i., 279, S80. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 277 

Abuses existed in every department of the public serv- chap. ix. 
ice, which the bustling Kieft attempted to remedy by 
proclamations. It was ordered that no person in the com- prociama- 
pany's employ should trade in peltries, and that no fursp„"%aiie 
should be exported without special permission, under pen- [fo^l'si'' 
alty of loss of wages and confiscation of goods. The pla- ' ■'""'^' 
card forbidding clandestine traffic in New Netherland was 
republished ; and death was threatened against all who 
should sell powder or guns to the Indians. After night- poUcc reg- 

f II 11 •! • 1 1 1 • 1 • 1 ulations. 

tail, all sailors must remam on board then" ships ; hours 
were fixed for all persons to commence and leave off work ; 
subordination and diligence were enjoined ; and fighting, 
lewdness, rebellion, theft, perjury, calumny, and " all oth- 
er immoralities," solemnly prohibited. No person was to 
retail any liquors, " except those who sold wine at a de- 
cent price and in moderate quantities." And Thursday 
in each week was appointed as the regular day for the 
sessions of the council as a court of civil and criminal ju- 
risdiction. Tobacco, w^hich had now become a staple pr o- Tobacco m- 

_ ' • spection. 

duction of New Netherland, was also subjected to excise ; 
and regulations were published, to check the abuses which i'.» August, 
injured " the high name" it had "gained in foreign coun- 
tries."* 

Another proclamation declared, that no attestations or writings to 

. . , .be attested. 

other public writings should be valid before a court in 
New Netherland, unless they were written by the colonial 
secretary. This arbitrary regulation was soon objected to 
as oppressive, and as intended to restrain popular rights ; 
but the policy of the measure was afterward defended by 
Secretary Van Tienhoven. " Most of the people living in 
New Netherland," said the sycophantic official, "are coun- 
try or sea-faring men, who summon each other frequently 
before the court for small matters, while many of them 
can neither read nor write, nor testify intelligibly, nor pro- 
duce written evidence ; and, if some do produce it, it is 
sometimes written by a sailor or a boor, and is often whol- 
ly indistinct and repugnant to the meaning of those who 

* Alb. Rec, ii., 3-12, 19, 21, 188 ; Haz.ard's Ann. Penn., 49. 



278 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. IX. had it Written or made the statement. Consequently, the 
~ director and council could not know the truth of matters, 
as was proper, and as justice demanded."* 

If, however, the new director seemed chiefly engrossed 

I in reforming the civil administration, he did not neglect 

DomineBo-the causc of relio^ion. Boarardus, the clersfvman at Fort 

gardus re- o ' oj 

tainedat Amsterdam, upon learning the charges which Van Dinck- 

sterdam. lagcn, after his return to Holland, had laid before the 
Classis of Ajiisterdam, petitioned Kieft for leave to return 
to the Fatherland and defend himself. But the director 

18 July, and council resolved "to retain the minister here, so that 
the increase of God's word may in no manner be prevent- 
ed." The Consistory of the Church, however, earnestly 
defended and justified their conduct in 1636 ; and Kieft 
himself seems to have supported their prayer, that the 
Classis would " be pleased to look into their case with 
care, and to decide the same against Lubbertus van Dinck- 
lagen, for the protection of the reputation of their es- 
teemed preacher Domine Everardus Bogardus."t 

In spite of Kieft's proclamations, abuses continued. 

Muitifari- The population of New Netherland not having yet become 

uonat^"* generally agricultural, was too much disposed to a lax 
*"' morality, owing partly to the mixed character of the per- 
sons attracted to Manhattan for purposes of trade, and 
partly to the example which the late director had himself 
set. Kieft attempted to introduce a more rigid system of 
police ; and fresh proclamations threatened all evil-doers 
with fines and penalties. The people were forbidden to 

Passports. Icave Manhattan without passports ; but, in spite of pla- 
cards, they would go when they pleased. Complaints 
were frequently made, that private parties were enriching 
themselves at the company's expense. All persons were, 

18 Nov. therefore, ordered to restore, without delay, every thing in 
their possession belonging to the company, unless they 
could " prove that they bought it from the former direct- 
or." And criminal prosecutions, and executions for homi- 

* Hoi. Doc, v., 360 ; ii., N. Y. H. S. Coll., ii., 318, 336. 

t Alb. Roc, ii., 17 ; Cor. 01. Amst., 19th Nov., 1641, Ist Ap., 1642 ; ante, p. 273. 



Peculation. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 279 

cide and mutiny, were unhappily too frequent to leave chap. ix. 

the new director much repose from the cares of his gov- 

, ^ 1638. 

ernment.* 

Thousjh the colony at Rensselaerswyek was steadily stow prog- 
prospermg, the oppressive trading monopoly ot the VV est ricuiturai 
India Company retarded the agricultural settlement of 
other parts of New Netherland. A few " free colonists," 
however, from time to time came out from Holland, and 
established themselves chiefly in the neighborhood of Man- 
hattan. Pavonia, having now become the property of the Pavonia. 
company, Kieft, in the name of the directors, sold some i May. 
land at Paulus' Hook, east of Ahasimus, to Abraham 
Isaack Planck, who soon established a flourishing farm 
upon his purchase ; and other tracts in that neighborhood 
were leased, before long, to respectable emigrants. Near 
"Corlaer's Hook," on Manhattan Island, a plantation was an juiy. 
bought by Andries Hudde, the " first commissary of iiook. 
wares ;" and La Montague and others began to make 
permanent improvements. In the course of the summer, i August 
Kieft also secured for the company the Indian title to a 
large tract of land upon Long Island, between the East 
River and the swamps of Mespath, now known as New-Mespath. 
town ; and active husbandmen soon began to occupy the is"iai°i"" 
fertile regions adjoining the early Waal-bogt.t 

Important events had, meanwhile, occurred on the Affairs on 
southern iVontier of New Netherland. After the miscar- River. 
riage of West's scheme in 1635, and the re-occupation of 
Fort Nassau, the Dutch had retained the tranquil posses- 
sion of the h^outh Ptiver. Arendt Corssen, whom Van 
T wilier had appointed commissary there, was succeeded, 
soon after Kieft's arrival, by Jan Jansen, of Ilpendam, in jan Jansen 
North Holland ; and Peter Mey was directed to act as as- conmiis«a- 
sistant commissary at Fort Nassau during Jansen's ab-"' 
senee.J Sir John Harvey, having defeated the intrigues 
of his enemies in London, returned to Virginia with a 

* Alb. Rcc, G. G., 57 ; i., 65 ; ii., 33 ; iii., 419. 

t llol. Doc, v., 399 ; ii., N. Y. II. S. Coll., ii., 338 ; Alb. Rec, i., 16, 55 ; O'Call., i., 185 ; ii., 
581. La Montagne's farm, on Manhattan Island, was called Vredendael, or " Peaceful Vale." 
It was between the Eightlj Avenue and Ilaerlem River. t Hoi. Doc, viii., 32, 51. 



280 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. IX. new royal commission as governor, in which post he re- 
mained until he was succeeded by Sir Francis Wyatt in 

2 April. 1639.* Harvey's influence, though weakened by the fac- 
andpMary- tious which distractcd his administration, was still suffi- 
'""'^' cient to restrain the Virginians from further invasion of 

New Netherland ; and the Maryland colonists, under Lord 
Baltimore's tolerant government, were too busily occupied 
in harmonious efforts for peopling the beautiful shores of the 
Potomac to think of encroaching upon the adjoining terri- 
tory of the Hollanders. A friendly intercourse was all that 
they desired ; and Calvert, under the official seal of the 
1638. province, encouraged trade and commerce " with the 
12 Feb. Dutchmen in Hudson's River."t But while English ag- 
gression was pausing at the South, fresh annoyance from 
an unexpected source visited the Batavian possessions. 
Colonial Swcdcu was uow to bccomc the competitor of France, 

Sweden, and England, and Holland for a foothold in North Amer- 
ica. The liberal mind of G-ustavus Adolphus early dis- 
cerned the benefits to his people of colonies and an ex- 
panded commerce ; and William Usselincx, the projector 
of the Dutch West India Company, visiting the Baltic, 
1626. quickened the zeal of the sagacious sovereign. The plan 
14 June, wliich Usseliucx proposed w^as adopted by G-ustavus, and 
Swedish Confirmed by the Diet. Even while the gallant northern 

West India , • /-i • , i ■ , ■ 

Company, mouarcli was sweeping Cxermany with victorious armies, 

his views of American colonization became more enlarged; 

1632. and at Nuremberg he drew up a recommendation of the 

16 October. y^jpj.^j^j.j^g ^g u ^he jcwcl of hls kingdom." But the fa- 

3 Nov. tal field of Liitzen soon afterward deprived Sweden of her 

magnanimous sovereign ; and the grand enterprise he had 
so much at heart was suspended for several years. $ 
Queen On tlic dcmisc of Gustavus, the crown descended to his 

Christina. . . i -i i /■ • 

daughter Christina, a child of six years of age ; and the 
states intrusted the government, during her minority, to a 
regency, at the head of which was the illustrious states- 
man Axel, count of Oxenstierna. One of the few great 

■* Harvey's commission is in Rymer's Fodera, xx., p. 3 ; Hazard, i., 400 ; and Wyatt's 
in Rymer, xx., 484 ; Hazard, i., 477. t IJozman, ii., 593. 

t Moulton, 408-411 ; Bancroft, ii., 284 ; Hazard's Annals of Penn., 16-20, 30. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 281 

men of all time, the Swedish chancellor viewed the con- chap. ix 
sequences of American colonization as " favorable to all 
Christendom, to Europe, and to the whole world." He 1633. 
therefore published the Nuremberg proclamation, which '" '^''"' 
Grustavus had left unsigned ; and the next year, the char- 1634. 
ter which Oxenstierna proposed for the Swedish West In- '' ^^'^' 
dia Company, was confirmed by the deputies of the Ger- 
man circles at Francfort.* 

It was more than three years, however, before the 
scheme was carried into effect ; and when it was at length 
accomplished, it was by the agency of a former officer of 
the Dutch West India Company. After his recall from Petcr Min- 
New Netherland, Minuit, going to Stockholm, offered to din'" 
the regency the benefit of his colonial experience. The 
counsels of the discarded director won the confidence of 
the sagacious Oxenstierna; and toward the close of 1637, 1637. 
Minuit sailed from Gottenburg, with a commission from 
the infant queen, " signed by eight of the chief lords of 
Sweden," to plant a new colony on the west side of the 
Delaware Bay. The selection of this region was probably 
owing to Minuit, who, during his directorship of New 
Netherland, had become well acquainted with the situa- 
tion of Swaancndael and the neighboring territories on 
the South River, and who knew that there was now no 
Em'opean colony there. A man-of-war, "the Key of Cal-Miimu 
mar," and a tender, "the Griffin," were fitted out, in which somu rw- 
about fifty emigrants were embarked, some of whom being 
" bandits," were to be employed as galley-slaves in erect- 
ing fortifications. The care of the Swedish government 
added a pious Lutheran clergyman, Reorus Torkillus, and 
supplied the expedition with provisions, ammunition, and 
goods for traffic with the natives. t 

Early in the spring of 1638 — about the time that Kieft 1638. 
anchored at Manhattan — the Swedish expedition put in at ^',^j;jJo„ i„ 
Jamestown, where it remained about ten days, "to refresh 'J^aile*'^**" 
with wood and water." The treasurer of Virginia, learn- 

* Bancroft, ii.,266 ; Hazard, Ann. Penn., 34, 39. 

t IIoI. Doc, viii., 34 ; Hazard, Anu. Penn., 43-47 ; Holm, 73, 109 ; Acrelius, 408. 



282 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. IX. ing that it was " bound for Delaware Bay, which is the 
confines of Virginia and New England," there "to make 
■ a plantation," desired to obtain a copy of Minuit's com- 
mission. This, however, he declined to furnish, " except 
he might have free trade for tobacco to carry to Sweden." 
But Governor Harvey " excused himself thereof," as it 
was "contrary to his majesty's instructions;" and Minuit, 

Arrives in pursuing his voyage, reached the Delaware Bay early in 

ware Eay. April.* 

Purihises Running up as far as the " Minquas' Kill," Minuit pur- 
land at the cliascd, for " a kettle and other trifles," from the Sachem 
*^'"" Mattehoorn, who had his wigwam there, as much land, 
" included between six trees," as would serve to build a 
house upon and make a plantation. For this land a deed 
was given, " written in Low Dutch, as no Swede could 
yet interpret the Indian." By this conveyance, the Swedes 
claimed to have obtained all the territory on the west side 
of the river, from Cape Hinlopen to the falls at " Santic- 
kan," or Trenton, and as far inland " as they might want."t 
Visited by The ucws of thc Swedes' arrival quickly reached the 
from Fort Dutcli at Fort Nassau, about fifteen miles further up the 
river ; and persons were sent down to demand the reasons 
of their coming. But Minuit represented that he was only 
on a voyage to the West Indies, and would leave as soon 
as he had supplied his ships with wood and water. Re- 
visiting the Minquas' Kill soon afterward, the Dutch offi- 
cers found that the Swedes " had done more," and had 
already made a small garden. They inquired " what it 
meant;" and Minuit again excused himself "by various 
reasons and subterfuges." In a few days, the real inten- 
tions of the Swedes were made apparent. Minuit dis- 
•-'5 April, patched his tender, the G-riffin, up the river to trade ; but 

Minuil ^ 7 ' r 7 

scnd.shis she was stopped at Fort Nassau, and Peter Mey, the as- 
tender up . ^ ^ '' ' 

the river to sistaut commissary, going on board, demanded to see her 

* Murpliy's notes on Vcrtoogh van N. N., in ii., N. Y. Tf. S. Coll., ii., 327 ; Letter 
IVom Jerome Hawley, Treasurer of Virginia, to Secretary Winilcbanke, dated 8th of May, 
1038, in Lond. Doc., i., ."i? ; N. Y. Col. MSS., iii., 20 ; Hazard, Ann. Penn., 42, 43. 

t IIol. Doc., viii., 70; Acrelius, in ii., N. V. H. S. Coll., i., 409; Hudde's Report in 
same vol., p. 439. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 283 

commission. This the Swedish oliicer refused to show, chap. ix. 
avowing that it was their intention to establish a fort on 
the river, and that "his Queen was as justifiable in build- 
ing a fort there as was the company." 

As soon as Kieft received intelligence of this now en- Kiea-s first 

, - , . _ di.spatches 

croachment, he ordered Commissary Jansen to go to the to iioiiand. 
Minquas' Kill, and in case he saw Minuit acting to the 
injury of the Dutch, " immediately to protest against it 
in proper form." The director's first dispatches home con- 28 Apni. 
veyed an account of the affair to the Amsterdam Chamber.* 
Notwithstanding the warning from Fort Amsterdam, c May. 

° ^ ^ Kieft pro- 

Minuit persisted ; and the New Netherland government, '««'« 
therefore, sent him a formal protest, in w^liich the title of Minuit. 
the Dutch to the whole of the Delaware was distinctly 
asserted. "I make known," wrote Kieft, "to you, Peter 
Minuit, who call yourself commander in the service of Her 
Royal Majesty of Sweden, that the whole South River in 
New Netherland has been many years in our possession, 
and has been secured by us with forts above and below, 
and sealed with our blood, t which altjo happened during 
your own dhection in New Netherland, and is, therefore, 
well known to you. But as you do now make a begin- 
ning of a settlement between our forts, and are building 
a fort there to our prejudice and disadvantage, which we 
shall never endure or tolerate, and as we also are per- 
suaded that it has never been commanded by Her Swedish 
Majesty to build fortresses on our rivers and coasts, or to 
settle people on the adjoining lands, or to trade in peltries, 
or to undertake any other thing to our prejudice ; now, 
therefore, we protest against all the evil consequences of 
such encroachments, and declare that, while we will not 
be answerable for any mishap, bloodshed, trouble, and dis- 
aster which you may hereafter suffer, we are resolved to 
defend our rights in all such ways as we shall deem proper."t 
Minuit, however, was not deterred by proclamations, 

* Hoi. Doc., viii., 50, 70 ; Hazard, Ann. Penn., 44, 47 ; Vertoogh van N. N., ut sup., 282. 
t By this e.xpression, Kieft meant the massacre of the Dutch at Swaanendael, during 
Minuit's time. 
t Alb. Rec, ii., 7 ; Acrelius, 409 ; O'Call., i., 191 ; Hazard's Ann. Penn., 44. 



284 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. IX. which "he did not feel inclined to answer." A trading- 
house and fort were soon erected on the north bank of the 
Minuit per- Minquas' Kill, about two miles from its confluence with 
desr^n" '"^ the South River, near the spot where "Wilmington now 
stands ; the name of the kill was changed to that of 
" Christina Creek ;" and the establishment was called 
The " Fort Christina," in honor of the young queen. To de- 

hmid" Fort fine its boundaries, posts were erected, on which were 
on the Min- carvcd tlic royal initials, surmounted by the crown of Swe- 
den. Perfectly acquamted with the Indian trade, Minuit 
soon drew "all the skins toward him, by his liberal gifts." 
Twenty-four men were placed in garrison at Fort Chris- 
tina, which was well supplied with merchandise and pro- 
visions ; and the vessels returned to Sweden, about mid- 
Juiy. summer, with the first cargoes from the new colony.* 
Thus the Swedes under Minuit, more fortunate than the 
earlier Dutch colonists under the patroons of Swaanendael, 
became the first permanent European occupants of the 
State of Delaware. 
o. tober. The new director''s first dispatches scarcely reached Am- 
Hhip seized stcrdam, bcforc a heavily-laden Swedish vessel arriving at 

ill Ilolland Tiriii-i 1 , , (- 1 -ITT T 

iiythe Medemblick, on her return voyage "from the West In- 
coinpany. dics," was scizcd by the Chamber at Enckhuysen, for 
having illegally traded within the company's American 
territory. The Swedish minister at the Hague, learning 
the circumstances, immediately demanded her release 
from the States Greneral. It was not the policy of Hol- 
land to offend a power whose victorious generals were 
iteieased humbUug Denmark and Austria. The flag of Sweden 
slates Gen- protected the Swedish ship in the ports of the Fatherland, 
as it had already commanded respect in New Netherland ; 

* IIol. Doc, viii., 50, 51 ; Hazard, Ann. Penn., 45, 47 ; Holm, 85 ; Acrelius, 17, ,307 ; 
Iludde's Report, 428 ; Ferris, 42, 45. Kiefl, in writing to the Amsterdam Chamber, on 
the 3l8t of July, 1638 (IIol. Doc, viii., 50), says that Minuit, after building the fort on the 
South River, &c., " is van daer vrrtrockcn, met zyn twee byhebbende scheepen," &c. 
The Dutch word " vertrockcn"' literally means " departed ;" and the phrase seems to im- 
ply that Minuit went bacli to Sweden with his two ships. But Kieft, who wrote his dis- 
patch on hearsay, and not from personal observation, perhaps expressed himself inaccu- 
rately ; for Acrelius, who drew his narrative from reliable sources, distinctly states that 
Minuit, "during three years," protected Fort Christina, where he died tin 1641?] ; and 
that " his successor was Peter llolliendare, a native Swede." — ii., N. Y. 11. S. Coll., i., 410 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 285 

the arrest was promptly removed ; and the liberated ves- chap. ix 

sel sailed onward to the Baltic.* 

1638 
In the mean time, several shareholders of the "West In- j^^ stat.'.s 

dia Company had represented the unsatisfactory condition j^^^r^^jj^'," 
of their American province to the States General, who in- }|'J'„'o7ivc\v 
structed their deputies to the College of the XIX. to aid [^n'j!" 
in concerting such "effective order" as should attract "*' '^'"''' 
thither proper emigrants from the Fatherland, " so that 
this state may not be robbed of the aforesaid New Neth- 
erland by the indirect intrigues of any of the inhabitant:^ 
of this country, nor by the intrusions and invasions of the 
subjects of foreign prmces and powers." The report of the so April. 
deputies was a gloomy picture. The limits of New Neth- 
erland, according to the special grant in 1614, and the 
charter of the West India Company, were claimed by the 
directors as extending " from Virginia upward ; to wit, 
from Ci^apoa, along the sea-coast, to Terra Nova." Of 
these territories, the Dutch were in possession of the North 
River ; the English reached to the Fresh River, and their 
right " is that of the strongest." The company could re- 
tain the remaining territory, if it were populated. " From 
the North River men can go into the interior as far as 
they please ;" but colonization was retarded "because the 
directors can not agree among themselves." " Would it 
not then be expedient," asked the deputies, "to place the 
district of New Netherland at the disposal of the States 
General ?" " We have no such intention," replied the The com- 

companv, "unless we can thereby erain some advantasfc : <•linetosur- 
, " ' . ... r 11 • • ' rcnderth.nr 

we hope that it will prove prontable m time, now that province. 
some order has been taken about Brazil. The chief ap- 
prehension is about the English ; and we are considering 
the policy of surrendering the Indian trade, or something 
else."t 

Thus the directors, while obliged to confess their mis- 
management of the fertile province which had now been 
nearly fifteen years under their control, refused to surren- 
• der it to the States General. It would have been happy 

* Hoi. Doc, ii., 228 t Hoi. Doc, ii., 186-195 ; O'Call., i., 176. 



286 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

i;hap. IX. for New Netherland if, instead of remaining the depend- 
ency of a mercantile corporation, it could now have be- 
come a government colony of the United Provinces. The 
statesmanship of the Hague did not guide the Chamber 
i;ii.su<ces.s. at Amsterdam. From the first the company had sought 
ajjcment of to peoplc its province with its own dependents. This was 
India Com- tlic Cardinal error ; for these persons, returning home, took 
" ' nothing with them, " except a little in their purses, and a 
bad name for the country." The capital which would 
have been more wisely employed in bringing over people 
and importing cattle, was expended at Manhattan " in 
building the ship New Netherland at an excessive outlay, 
in erecting three expensive mills, in brick-making, tar- 
burning, ash-burning, salt-making, and like operations." 
The Charter of Privileges and exemptions, which offered 
such large inducements to patroons, discouraged individual 
enterprise. Private persons who might wish to emigrate 
" dared not attempt it." Though the company had at 
first sent over some emigrants, it had not persevered ; and 
while foreigners were quietly allowed to encroach upon 
the frontiers of New Netherland, the company had not 
encouraged the colonization of the Fresh and South Riv- 
ers by its own countrymen. Its mercantile directors 
looked more to their immediate interests, than to the wel- 
fare of the province which their bad government threat- 
ened with ruin.* 
Result of The searching investigation which the government had 
gation^** ' instituted convinced the company, however, that effectual 
measures must now be adopted to regenerate New Neth- 
erland. After several months' consideration, a draft of 
New'Ar- ucw "Articles and Conditions" was accordingly presented, 
poeedby™ by thc liistoriau John de Laet, for the approbation of the 
^^ecompa- g^^^^g General. But it did not meet the exigency. It 
was prolix and theoretical, instead of precise and practical. 
It was a political constitution — which was not the desid- 
eratum — instead of a simple plan of emigration, which 
was really wanted. It promised no abrogation of the op- 

* Vertoogh van N. N., in Hoi. Doc., iv., 71 ; li., N. Y. 11. S. Coll., li., 288, 289. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 287 

pressive trading monopoly of the company, and proposed chap. ix. 
no elFectual method of colonization. It was at once dis- ~ ] 
carded by the States Greneral as " totally inadmissible." 

There was another important question to be adjusted. 
The difficulties between the directors and the patroons 
had been j)artially arranged by the purchase of Swaanen- 
dael and Pavonia. But the patroons now attempted to 
enlarge their "privileges," and boldly presented to the The pa- 
States General a " new plan," in which they demanded mand new 

111111111 !• • privilegeK. 

that they should be allowed to monopolize more territory ; 
have longer time to settle colonists ; be invested with the 
largest feudal powers ; be made entirely independent of 
the control of the company with respect to the internal 
government of their colonies ; enjoy free-trade throughout 
and around New Netherland ; have a vote in the coun- 
cil of the director ; be supplied with convicts from Hol- 
land as servile laborers, and with negro slaves ; and, final- 
ly, that all " private persons" and poor emigrants should 
be forbidden to purchase lands from the Indians, and 
should be required to settle themselves within the colo- 
nies, and under the jurisdiction of the great manorial lords. 
The Island of Manhattan, the precinct of Fort Orange, 
and Swaanendael and Pavonia, should alone remain un- 
der the company's exclusive authority. 

The patroons' grasping demands of new " Privileges 
and Exemptions" were as offensive to the States G-eneral A.uon of 

ii-rv 1 fii !•! 1 "'S States 

as the dmuse clauses ot the company's new " Articles and oenerai. 

2 Sept. 

Conditions" were unsatisfactory. Both the proposed in- 
struments were immediately sent back to the Amsterdam 
Chamber, with directions to reconsider " the whole busi- 
ness of New Netherland ;" so that such measures might 
be taken by their High Mightinesses, respecting its colo- 
nization, " as should bo found most advisable for the serv- 
ice of the state and for the benefit of the company."* 

The authoritative injunction of the States (3-eneral was 
promptly obeyed. The " Privileges" of the patroons were 
reserved for future consideration ; but it was now determ- 

* IIol. Uoc., ii., 146, 206, 234. 225; O'Call., i., 192-200. 



288 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap IX. ined that the experiment of opening to free competition 
7~~ t^® internal trade of New Netherland should be at once 
■ attempted. The Amsterdam Chamber accordingly pub- 
TheWost lished a notification, that all inhabitants of the United 
pan'y-.s "' Provinccs and of friendly countries might freely convey to 
UOT orrree New Netherland, " in the company's ships," any cattle 
and merchandise they desired, and might "receive what- 
ever returns they or their agents may be able to obtain in 
those quarters therefor." All shipments were to be made 
by the company's officers ; a duty of ten per cent, was to 
be paid to the company on all merchandise sent from Hol- 
land, and a duty of fifteen per cent, on all goods exported 
from New Netherland ; and freight was also to be paid 
for the conveyance of goods and cattle. The Director and 
Council of New Netherland were to be instructed to ac- 
commodate every emigrant, " according to his condition 
and means, with as much land as he and his family can 
properly cultivate." A quit-rent of a tenth of all the prod- 
uce was reserved to the company, which would assure le- 
gal estates of inheritance to the grantees. In subordina- 
tion to the States G-eneral, the company and its officers 
were to maintain police and administer justice in New 
Netherland ; and each colonist or trader proceeding thith- 
er was to sign a pledge " voluntarily to submit to these 
regulations and to the commands of the company, and al- 
low all questions and differences there arising to be de- 
cided by the ordinary course of justice established in that 
country."* 
EiTecfs of a The more liberal system which the company was thus 
^[c>! "^ compelled to adopt, though it fell short of the emergency, 
was a step in advance, and gave a rapid impulse to the 
prosperity of New Netherland. Private enterprise and in- 
dustry w^ere now unshackled ; and an anxiety to emigrate 
was soon manifested at Amsterdam, which the directors 
wisely encouraged by offering a free passage, and other 
substantial inducements to respectable farmers.t 

♦ Hoi. Doc, ii., 220, 370 ; O'Call., i., 201-203. 

t Hoi. Doc, iii., 96 ; v., 155-157 ; ii., N. Y. H. S. Coll., ii., 330 ; O'Call., i., 206. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 289 

The proclamation was no sooner published, than plans chap. ix. 
of colonization were formed by persons of capital and in- 
fluence. De Vries, who had arranged with Van Twiller 05 sept. 
two years before, for lands on Staten Island, now sailed ^g\j'^''g";*i3 
from the Texel with several emigrants, who had agreed NetheT 
to go out with him and commence a colony. Arriving off '*"'^" 
Sandy Hook in mid-winter, the master of the ship, want- 
ing a pilot, and observing the ground covered with snow, 
began to talk of returning to the West Indies, and wait- 
ing there until summer. He had "old false charts," only, 
with him. But some of the passengers, "who had lived 
several years in New Netherland," asked De Vries to pilot 
them in ; for they knew that he had formerly " taken his 
own ship in by night." De Vries assenting, conducted 27 Dec. 
the vessel safely up to Fort Amsterdam, " where there Manhattai. 
was great joy, because no ship was expected there at that 
time of the year." After spending a few days at Kieft's 
house, where he was cordially welcomed, De Vries sent 1639. 
his people to Staten Island, to build some cabins, and be- Buuds'on 

, , 1 • ,,o{. Staten Isl- 

gm a " colonic. '* and. 

In the course of the following summer, several other 
persons of substantial means came out from Holland, 
bringing along with them emigrants and cattle. Among le .lune. 

" J. p. Kuy- 

them was Jochem Pietersen Kuyter, of Darmstadt, whotcrand 

"^ ' ' Cornells 

had formerly been a commander in the East Indies under ^^e'yn ar- 

■^ rive at 

the King of Denmark. Cornelis Melyn, of Antwerp, also M'^ni'a'ian 
came to see the country ; which pleased him so well that 
he soon returned to bring his family out to Manhattan. 
Both Kuyter and Melyn afterward rose to prominence in 
their new home.t 

The liberal policy which the West India Company had stranRer« 
now adopted not only encouraged the emigration of sub- ntit;hbor- 

•11 • r ^ -nil in ing colonics 

stantial colonists from the Fatherland, but also attracted attracted t* 
strangers from Virginia and New England. Conscience "land, 
had always been unshackled in New Netherland ; and 
now the internal trade and commerce of the province were 
made free to all. In Massachusetts, where political fran- 

* De Vries, 148, 149. t IIoI. Doc, ill., 365 ; De Vries, 151. 



290 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. IX. chises Were limited to members of the Church, " many 
men began to inquire after the southern parts ;" and it 
was not because the necessaries of life or a healthy cli- 
mate were wanting, that that colony was " disesteemed 
of many." Besides seeking relief in Virginia and the West 
Indies, th'e dissatisfied began to escape from their "insup- 
portable government," to find more congenial homes in 
New Netherland. From Virginia, too, numbers of persons, 
whose terms of service had expired, were attracted to Man- 
hattan, where they introduced improved modes of culti- 
vating tobacco. Cherry and peach trees, which hitherto 
had been seen only near Jamestown, now began to flour- 

Prosperity ish arouud the walls of Fort Amsterdam. Prosperity and 

•of the prov- ... i ^ 

ince. progress replaced dilapidation and ruin. Instead of " sev- 
en bouweries and two or three plantations," full thirty, 
" as well stocked with cattle as any in Europe," were 
soon under cultivation. The numerous applications for 
land promised "full one hundred more ;" and there was a 
prospect that, in two or three years' time, provisions could 
be furnished for fourteen thousand men.* 
15 January. In view of the increasing demand for homesteads near 
chases Fort Amsterdam, Kieft purchased from the chief of the 
Long isi- tribe living near Manhassett, or Sellout's Bay, all the lands 
company, from Rockaway eastward to " Sicktew-hacky," or Fire 
Island Bay ; thence northward to Martin Gerritsen's, or 
Cow Bay, and westward along the East River, " to the 
Vlaeck's Kill ;" and thus secured to the West India Com- 
pany the Indian title to nearly all the territory now form- 
.1 AuRust. ing the county of Q,ueens. A few months afterward, the 
Kekesick Indian owners of " Kekesick" appeared at Fort Amster- 

\n West 

Chester, dam, and ceded to the company all the territory " which 
lies over against the flats of the Island of Manhates," atl- 
joining " the great Kill." This purchase is supposed to 
have included a part of the present town of Yonkers, in 
the county of West Chester.! 

* Hoi. Doc, ii., 370, 371 ; iii., 98, 99 ; Alb. Rec, i., 109 ; O'Call., i., 208, 222, 418 ; Win- 
throp, i., 331 ; De Vries, 109 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iv., 6. 

t Alb. line, G. C, 59, fi2 ; xxii., 8 ; O'Call., i., 210 ; ii., 335 ; Thompson's L. I., I., 94 ; 
Bolton's West Chester, ii., 401 . 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 291 

Among the prominent men in New England whose at- chap. ix 
tention was turned toward New Netherland, was Captain 
John Underhill, one of the heroes of the Pequod war, and captain 
now Governor of Piscataqua, or Dover. Dissatisfied with jerh.^pro. 
his abode, he applied to Kieft for permission to reside with come undei 
a few families under the protection of the Dutch, provid- protection. 
ed they might enjoy all the privileges of the inhabitants 
of New Netherland. The director and council promptly 8 scpt. 
granted Underhill's request, upon condition that " he and 
his adherents take the oath of allegiance to their High 
Mightinesses the States General, and his highness the 
Prince of Orange."* 

The only obligation required from strangers was an oath obiigatione 
of fidelity and allegiance, similar to that which was im-icgesoftbr 
posed upon Dutch colonists. The liberal maxims of the New Nmiv- 
Fatlierland in regard to citizenship were adopted and 
proclaimed in New Netherland. In no one respect were ' 

foreigners subjected to greater restraints than natives, or 
excluded from any privilege which Hollanders themselves 
enjoyed. New Amsterdam was to be as much a city of the 
world as was old Amsterdam ; and the provincial records 
show how readily the EnglLsh new-comers bound them- September, 
selves by oath "to follow the director, or any one of the 
council, wherever they shall lead ; faithfully to give in- 
stant warning of any treason or other detriment to this 
country that shall come to their knowledge ; and to assist 
to the utmost of their power in defending and protecting 
with their blood and treasure the inhabitants thereof 
against all its enemies."! 

Numerous grants of land were soon obtained by the Grams or 
adopted citizens of New Netherland. Anthony Jansen,eigncrs." 
of Salee, a respectable French Huguenot, entered two 
hundred acres opposite Coney Island, and began the set- 

* Alb. Rec, ii., 64. Underhill, however, did not come to New Netherland until 1643. 
In 1642, afler undergoing ecclesiastical discipline at Boston, he removed to Stamford ; and 
the next year entered the military service of the Dutch. — See Winthrop, i., 270, 291, 306, 
326 ; ii., 14, 63, 97 ; and Thompson's L. I., ii., 353-361. In a letter, dated the 28th of June, 
1638, Underhill gives an account of the proceedings of the " proud Pharisees" agaloBt 
him, somewhat more circumstantial than VVinthrop's statements. 

t Alb. Rec, ii., 63. 



292 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



CaAP. IX. 

1639. 
15 Nov. 



Dautei 



Kieft's do- 
mestic ad- 
ministra- 
tion. 



1 Jnly. 



Conielis 
van der 
II uy gens 
appointed 
^chout-&j- 
cal. 



13 July. 



tlement of Gravesend. Thomas Belcher soon afterward 
took up a tract at " Marechkaweick," in what is now Brook- 
lyn. And George Holmes, the leader of the expedition 
against Fort Nassau in 1635, who had been carried back 
to Virginia, returning to Manhattan, in conjunction with 
Thomas Hall, his former companion, obtained a grant of 
land, and built a house near "Deutel Bay," a beautiful 
secluded nook on the East River.* 

While every thing was now beginning to wear an air 
of progress and improvement around Manhattan, the act- 
ive director employed himself diligently in reforming the 
colonial administration. Discipline was enforced among 
the soldiers, and the company's mechanics and laborers 
obliged to regulate their working hours by the ringing of 
the bell, Jacob van Curler and David Provoost were ap- 
pointed inspectors of the new staple, tobacco. Oloff Ste- 
vensen van Cortlandt, who had come out with Kieft from 
Holland as a soldier in the service of the company, was 
promoted to be commissary of the shop. A change was 
also made in the office of schout-fiscal, but not by Kieft's 
agency. This important post was now conferred, by the 
Amsterdam Chamber, upon Cornells van der Huygens. 
Van Dincklagen, whose representations had so materially 
contributed to the changes introduced into the administra- 
tion of New Netherland, was neither reinstated nor re- 
ceived into the company's favor. Upon the arrival of 
Van der Huygens at Manliattan, Ulrich Lupoid, who had 
acted as schout-fiscal for three years, was immediately ap- 
pointed commissary of wares by Kieft, who frequently in- 
vited his presence at the colonial council board.! . 

* Alb. Rec, i., 116; ii., 54 ; O'Call., i., 208, 211 ; ii., 581 ; Thompson's L. I., ii., 171, 218. 
Deutel Bay is tlie small cove on the East River about two miles above Corlaer's Hook, 
now known as "Turtle l?ay." The original name, " Ueutel," which the English soon 
corrupted to "Turtle," signified, according to .fudge Benson (Memoir, p. 90), a peg with 
whicli ca-sks were " gedcutelt," or secured. As these pegs wore short, but broad at the 
base, and as the bay was narrow at its entrance and wide within, the supposed resem- 
blance between it and the peg probably suggested the name of" Deutel." 

t Alb. Rec, ii., 57, fil, M, <J'J, l.'t2; O'Call., i., 211, 228 ; IIol. Doc, 398 ; ii., N. Y. 11. S. 
Coll., ii., 29U, 337. Van Cortlandt left the company's service in Ifi'lS, and aflcrvvard be- 
came prominent in colonial alTjirs. Notices of his descendants, who form one of the most 
respectable families in the state, may be found in O'Call., i., 212 ; and in Bolton's West 
Chester, i., 51. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 293 

The emancipation of the internal trade of the province, chap. ix. 
however, soon be2;an to produce irref^ularities ; and a new ~ 
proclamation warned all persons, of whatever rank or con- 3^ Marcfi. 
dition, against selling guns or ammunition to the Indians. J.'^ntgaiMt 
A similar edict prohibited any person from sailing to Fort {^^d'tng''' 
Orange, the South River, or Fort Hope, without a permit 
from the director general, and from returning without a 
passport from the company's commissary. But Kieft's in- 
discretion hurried him into the adoption of another meas- 
ure, which produced, before long, the most disastrous re- 
sults. Under the plea that the company was burdened 
with heavy expenses for its fortifications and garrisons in 

New Netherland, the director arbitrarily resolved to "de- 15 Sept. 

. ■^ Kieft re- 

mand some tribute" of maize, furs, or sewan from the solves to 

levy a trib- 

neighboring Indians, "whom we thus far have defended ute on the 

. . . . savages. 

against their enemies," and threatened, in case of their 
refusal, to employ proper measures " to remove their re- 
luctance."* 

Meanwhile, the colonists of New England had been rap- Progress of 
idh narrowmg the eastern frontier of New Netherland. croaciimeiu 

mi •• • i-n 111 11'" •^'Onnee- 

Ihe extermmatmg war against the requods had. revealed ticut. 
a territory hitherto unknown to the English ; and Stoughton 
and Underbill, returning in triumph to Boston, extolled the 1637. 
beauty of the fertile coasts between Saybrook and Fairfield. 
" The place whither God's providence carried us, that is, 
to Quillipeage River, and so beyond to the Dutch," wrote h August. 
Stoughton to Winthrop, "is abundantly before" Massachu- 
setts Bay. " The Dutch will seize it if the English do not," 
he urged, "and it is too good for any but friends." Just 
then Davenport, the former Non-conformist clergyman at 
Rotterdam, and Eaton and Hopkins, " two merchants of 
London, men of fair estate and of great esteem for religion, 
and wisdom in outward affairs," arrived at Boston, and 
were besought to settle themselves in Massachusetts. But 
they could not be satisfied to " choose such a condition," 1638. 
and determined to remove to the " parts about Q,uilli- 
pieck." Sailing from Boston, the English colonists soon .10 March. 

* Alb. Rec., ii., 46, 47, 65. 



294 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. IX. reached the place which Block had first named the 

" Roodenberg," or Red Hills. The Dutch title was, how- 

Ibdo. ever, disregarded ; and Davenport, under the shadow of a 
sent from spreadins^ oak, laid the foundations of New Haven. A 

Boston to f ° . 

New Ha- simple "plantation covenant" bound the colonists to be 

ven. * 

18 April. " ordered by the rules wliich the Scriptures held forth to 

them ;" land was purchased from the Indian sachems ; 

1639. ^^^^ ^^6 vigorous settlement tlu'ove apace. In a year, its 

25 October, population cxcecded two hundred ; and Theophilus Eaton 
was chosen governor by electors, whose qualification was 
church membership.* 

With a boldness fostered by the consciousness of supe- 
rior numbers, English emigrants now aimed at possessing 
" all the land" as far westward as the Hudson River.t 

June. At the mouth of the Housatonic, the village of Stratford 

Stratford. r i 

already contained more than fifty houses. Enterprising 
Norv,aik. emigrants were also beginning to build at Norwalk and 
Stamford ; and even at Greenwich two houses were al- 
Petrick and ready crectcd. One of these was occupied by Captain 
Green- Daniel Patrick, "who had married a Dutch wife from the 
Hague." Patrick, who had been in command of a portion 
of the troops sent from Massachusetts during the Pequod 
war, had ample opportunities of observing the country in 
the neighborhood of the Dutch. Becoming dissatisfied 
with Watertown, he resolved to seek a more congenial 
home ; and in company with Robert Feake, who had mar- 
ried the daughter-in-law of Winthrop, he removed to Con- 
necticut, and commenced the settlement of Greenwich.! 
Fort at At the mouth of the Connecticut "a strong fort" was 

now completed by Gardiner, the governor of Saybrook. 
Growth of Hartford was already a little town, with over one hundred 

Hartford. •' 

houses and a fine church. The Dutch, however, contin- 
ued in possession of the flat lands around " the Hope," 
where Gysbert op Dyck was now commissary, with a gar- 

* Wintiirop, i., 228, 400, 405 ; Hutch. Coll., 62 ; Trumbull, i., 96-99, 104 ; ante, p. 56. 
De Vries, 149, says, that on the 6th of June, 1639, he anchored over night at New Haven, 
where he found " about three hundred houses built, and a handsome church." 

t Mather's Magnalia, i., 6. 

t De Vries, 151 ; Winthrop, i., 69, 74 ; ii., 151 ; Trumbull, i., 1 18 ; O'Call., i., 298. The 
maiden name of Captain Patrick's wife was Annetje van Beyeren. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 295 

rison of fourteen or fifteen soldiers. At their first coming, chap. ix. 
the Enfjlish conducted themselves discreetly ; but increas- 
ing in numbers, they boldly began to plow up the re-^gj,^^^ 
served lands around the Dutch redoubt. Op Dyck en- ji^JJ^^-g^j*''^ 
deavored to resist ; but the English cudgeled some of the^^^P'^' 
garrison who attempted to stop their proceedings, and 
Haynes, the newly-elected governor of Connecticut, justi- 
fied his countrymen. The Dutch, he said, had been many 9 june. 
years in possession, and had done nothing to improve the 
land, which "was lying idle" around their house. " Itcroundsof 
would be a sin to leave uncultivated so valuable a land, ju.stifi"ca- 
which could produce such excellent corn." Thus the 
Hartford people vindicated their conduct. They " gave 
out that they were Israelites, and that the Dutch in New 
Netherland, and the English in Virginia, were Egyp- 
tians."* 

The next year witnessed still bolder aggression. The 1G40. 
right of the Dutch to any of the land around their little ^°^reT^ 
fort was openly denied. In vain Commissary Op Dyck Harubrd. 
pleaded Dutch discovery before English knowledge of the 
river, and Dutch possession under a title from the Indian 
owners, anterior to English purchase and settlement. 
"Show your right," said Hop-kins, who had succeeded 23 April. 
Haynes as governor, " and we are ready to exhibit ours." 
Evert Duyckingk, one of the garrison, while sowing grain, 
was struck " a hole in his head with a sticke, soc that the 25 April, 
blood ran downe very strongly." Ingenuity was taxed to 
devise modes of worrying the Hollanders ; and to fortify the 
English claim of title, Sequasson, the son of the sachem who 
had assented to Van Curler's original purchase, was brought 12 Juiy. 
into court, to testify " that he never sold any ground to the 
Dutch, neither was at any time conquered by the Pequods, 
nor paid any tribute to them." Kieft's repeated protests 
brought no alleviation of annoyance ; for no re-enforce- 
ments came from Manhattan to vindicate the rights of the 
West India Company. Disgusted with a post where he 
was so constantly insulted. Op Dyck resigned his office, 25 October. 

* De Vrles, 149, 150, 151 ; ante, p. 261, note. 



296 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. IX. and Jan Hendricksen Roesen succeeded him as commis- 
~ sary at the Hope.* 

The progress of English encroachment along the shores 
of the Sound naturally awakened the anxiety of the New 
Netherland government. Excepting Bronck and his les- 
sees, there were as yet scarcely any Dutch colonists east 
19 April, of the Haerlem River. In order to " maintain the char- 
chases the ter and privileges" of the West India Company, Kieft dis- 

lands be- i ^ n -xt m- i i • i • c 

twecn Nor- patched Secretary Van iienhoven, early m the sprmg of 
the North lo40. With mstructious to purchase the "Archipelago," or 
group of islands at the mouth of the Norwalk River, to- 
gether with all the adjoining territory on the main land, 
" and to erect thereon the standard and arms of the High 
and Mighty Lords States General ; to take the savages 
under our protection ; and to prevent effectually any other 
nation encroaching on our limits." These directions were 
executed ; and the West India Company thus obtained the 
Indian title to all the lands between Norwalk and the 
North River, comprehending much of the present county 
of West Chester.! 

Patrick and Feake, who had been quietly settled for 
«• April, some time at Petuquapaen, or Greenwich, now purchased, 
from one of the neighboring sachems, his title to that re- 
gion. Kieft, however, who had already secured a formal 
15 October, ccssioii from the savages, soon afterward protested against 
Patrick and Patrick's iiitrusioii, and warned him and his associates 
submit that they would be ejected, unless they recognized the 
to the sovereignty of the Dutch. But Patrick, though he imme- 
diately declared that he would do nothing " that should 
be in the least against the rights of the States General," 
continued in adverse possession at Greenwich for two 
years longer, before he formally acknowledged the juris- 
diction of the authorities of New Netherland. I 



* IIol. Doc, ix., 192-197 ; Alb. Rec, ii., 104 ; Hazard, ii., 263, 261 ; N. Y. IT. S. Coll., 
i., 272, 273 ; Col. Rec. Conn., 51, 52 ; ante, p. 235, note. 

t Alb. Rec, ii., 78, 147 ; De Laet, viii. ; Hazard, ii., 213 ; O'Call., i., 215 ; Bolton's 
West Chester, i., 120, 283; ii., 16, 145. 

t IIol. Doc, ix., 198, 204 ; Hazard, ii., 264, 265 ; N. Y. H. S. Coll., i., 274, 275 ; O'Call., 
i., 218. 252; Trumbull, i., 118. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 297 

Up to this time, the Dutch settlements on Long Island chap. ix. 
had been confined to the neighborhood of the present city 
of Brooklyn. By purchases from the Indians, the West E^^tent of 
India Company had already become the proprietary of jur,fd"ciiou 
Mespath, or Newtown, and of the regions eastward as far iJiand.°"^ 
as Cow Bay, and southward to the Atlantic coast. Kieft 
now bought from "the great chief Penhawitz," the headioMa>. 
of the tribe of Canarsee Indians, who claimed the territo- 
ry forming the present county of Kings, and a part of the 
town of Jamaica, his hereditary rights to lands on Long 
Island. Thus all the Indian title to that part of the isl- 
and westward of Oyster Bay, comprehending the present 
counties of Kings and Queens, became vested, by pur- 
chase, in the West India Company. The territory east 
of Oyster Bay, now forming the county of Suffolk, how- 
ever, remained in the hands of its aboriginal lords. But 
the Dutch, who were the first Europeans that occupied 
any part of Long Island, always considered it the "crown 
of New Netherland," whence they obtained their supplies 
of wampum ; and the possession wdiich they had formally 
asserted, by affixing to a tree the arms of the States Gen- 
eral, they were determined to maintain.* 

A new encroachment now threatened this " crown" it- 
self. Under his grant from the council of Plymouth in 
1635, Lord Stirling soon afterward gave a power of attorn- 1637. 
ey to James Farrett, to dispose of any part of his prop- fo "^p"'- 
erty upon Long Island or its neighborhood. Farrett ac- James Far- 
cordingly visited New England; and, having selected for to New En- 
his own private use Shelter Island and Robins' Island, inLordstir- 
Peconick Bay, extinguished the Indian title by a formal agclu. 
purchase. t Previously to Farrett's arrival, however, Lion 
Gardiner, the commandant at Saybrook, had purchased of 1639. 
" the ancient inhabitants" the island near Montauk Point, nerpur-'^''' 
" called by the Indians Manchonack ; by the English, the dinar's i" 
Isle of Wight." This valuable purchase was soon after- 

* Alb.Rec.,ii.,83; Thompson's L.I.,i.,93; O'Call., i.,215 ; ii.,N. Y.II. S. Coll.,ii.,275. 
t Hartford Records, Towns and Lands, i., 5 ; Southampton Rec. ; Thompson's L. I., 
1., 364, 367 ; Winthrop, i., 231 ; ante, p. 259. 



298 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. IX. Ward Confirmed Ly Farrett, who, in the name of Lord 
Stirling, granted to Gardiner and his heirs the full posses- 
10 March' ^^°^ of the island, and the power "to make, execute, and 
put in practice such laws for church and civil government 
as are according to God, the king's, and the practice of 
the country." Grardiner immediately removed from Say- 
brook, and fixed his residence on the island, which has 
1641. since been known by his name. The next year his daugh- 
^^'' ter Elizabeth was born at " Grardiner's Island ;" and thus 
was commenced the first permanent English settlement 
within the present limits of the State of New York.* 
Had Lord Stirling's agent limited his gi*ants to the east- 
\aAO ern portion of Long Island, no difficulties would probably 
17 April, have occurred with the Dutch. A month after the con- 

thorizes firmatioii of Grardiner's purchase, however, Farrett, on be- 
some Lynn ,,^»Tif-i'i- i -it- 

people to half of Lord Stirling, made an agreement with Lieuten- 

seives on aut Daniel Howe, Edward Howell, Job Sayre, and other 

and." inhabitants of Lynn, in Massachusetts, by which they 

were authorized to settle themselves upon any lands on 

Long Island that they might purchase from the native 

Indians. Soon afterward, Farrett visited Manhattan in 

person ; and, in the name of Lord Stirling, boldly laid 

Farrett ar- claim to the wholc of Long Island. But he was instant- 
rested at T 1 • 
Manhattan. ly arrested by Kieft, by whom "his pretension was not 

much regarded ; and so he departed without accomplish- 
ing any thing, having influenced only a few simple peo- 
ple."! 
May- The Lynn emiOTants arriving at Manhassett, at the 

The Lynn -^ i i t^ i i 

emigrants head of Cow Bay, found the Dutch arms erected upon a 
Bay- tree ; and Howe, the leader of the expedition, pulled them 
10 May. down. But the Sachem Penhawitz, who had just before 
ceded all his rights to the Dutch, promptly informed Kieft 
that some "foreign strollers" had arrived at Schout's Bay, 
where they were felling trees and building houses, and 
" had even hewn down the arms of their High Mighti- 

* Thompson's Long Island, i., 305, 306 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., i., 685. Mr. Thompson given 
the date of the confirmation as the 10th of March, 1639 ; but as the English then used the 
old style, it was actually in 1640, according to our present system of reckoning. 

t Thompson's L. I., i., 320 ; ii., N. Y. H. S. Coll., ii., 275. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. ^-jQ 

nesses." Commissary Van Curler was sent to ascertain chap. ix. 
tlie facts ; and the sachem's story was found to be true. 
The arms of the States General had been torn down, and 
in their place had been drawn "an unhandsome face." 

Kieft's "hiorh displeasure" was instantly aroused; and h May. 

1 ,1 ■ • 1 . 1 Van Tien- 

Van Tienhoven, the provincial secretary, was promptly hoven sent 

dispatched with the under-schout, a sergeant, and twenty the intrud- 
men, to break up the settlement, arrest the trespassers, 
and bring them to Fort Amsterdam. It was a whole day 
before the expedition reached the Schout's Bay. When is May. 
Van Tienlioven arrived at the English settlement, he 
found one house already built, another in progress, and 
" eight men, one woman, and a babe ;" for Howe and the 
rest of his party, anticipating the danger which threaten- 
ed them, had already prudently retired. The trespassers The En- 
stated that they had been authorized to settle themselves passers 
there by " a Scotchman named Farrett, the agent of Lord Manhattan. 
Stirling," who had left for New Haven, after the Dutch 
arms had been thrown down. Sayre and five more of the 
party were immediately arrested and conveyed to Fort 
Amsterdam, where they were examined by the director i6 May. 
and council. Satisfied that they had been instigated by 
others, Kieft liberated them from arrest, three days after- 19 May. 
ward, upon their signing an agreement to " leave the ter- 
ritory of their High Mightinesses." 

Thus ended the attempt to plant an English colony 
within the present county of Q,ueens. Kieft immediately Kieit 
addressed a letter, " in Latin," to G-overnor Dudley at Governor 
Boston, complainmg of " the English usurpations," both Boston, 
at Connecticut and on Long Island, and of the insult of- 
fered to the Dutch arms at Schout's Bay by the Lynn 
trespassers. Dudley returned an answer, also in Latin, Dudleys 
professing the desire to maintain a neighborly correspond- '^''''^' 
ence ; and that as to the Connecticut people, " they were 
not under our government, and for those at Long Island, 
they went voluntarily from us."* 

* Alb. Rec, ii., 83-93 ; Hazard, ii.,213, 264 ; Winthrop, ii., 6, 7 ; Lechford, 44 ; O'Call., 
i., 216; Thompson, ii., 52; Wood, 9; Vertoogh van N. N., ut sup., 275; Trumbull, i.. 



300 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



I Chap. IX. 

1640. 

Settlement 
of South- 
ampton. 



June. 



1641. 

6 April. 



1640. 

Southold 
colonized 
under the 
jurisdic- 
tion of 
New Ha- 
ven. 



The ejection of the trespassers from Manhassett led, 
however, to the immediate settlement of the town of South- 
ampton, within the present county of Suffolk. Finding 
that the New Netherland authorities, while they utterly 
derided Lord Stirling's claim, were chiefly anxious to 
maintain their possession of the western extremity of 
Long Island, Farrett now determined to gain a permanent 
foothold at the east, near Lion G-ardiner's settlement. He 
therefore released to Howe, Say re, and Howell, and their 
associates, " all patent right of all those lands lying and 
being bounded between Peaconeck and the easternmost 
point of Long Island, with the whole breadth of the said 
island from sea to sea." The consideration stated by Far- 
rett was "barge hire, besides they being drove off by the 
Dutch from the place where they were by me planted," 
and a sum of money, " all amounting unto four hundred 
pounds sterling."* Under this release, Howe and his as- 
sociates came to Southampton, and obtained a conveyance 
of the Indian title in the following winter. The new plant- 
ation extended eastward from Canoe Place, on Shinnecock 
Bay, nearly to Sag Harbor, opposite Shelter Island, "com- 
monly known by the name of Mr. Farrett's Island." The 
first town meeting was held early the next spring ; and 
regular records were then commenced, which exist in good 
preservation.! 

The adjoining town of Southold, on the north side of 
Peconick Bay, was settled nearly at the same time. Its 
first colonists were natives of England, who accompanied 
their minister, John Youngs, from Hingham, in Norfolk, 
and first came to New Haven. From there they crossed 
over to " Yennecock," near Greenport, and secured the 
Indian title to the land. The conveyance was taken in 
the name of New Haven, which for some years exer- 
cised a limited control over the settlement. A church 

119, 122. Savage, in a note on Winthrop, ii., p. 5, justly remarks that Trumbull's ac- 
count is " not very satisfactory ;" and adds, " the right appears to me to have been on the 
Bide of the Dutch." 

* Lond. Uoc, i., CO, 63 ; N. Y. Col. MSS., iii., 21, 22 ; App., note N. 

■f Southampton Roc. ; Thompson's L. I., i., 326-328. In 1644, Southampton became 
"associated and joined" to the jurisdiction of Connecticut. — Col. Rec. Conn., 112, 566. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 301 

was " gathered anew ;" and the English colonists at South- chap. ix. 
old, like their neighbors at Southampton, quietly pursued 
their own way, without any opposition from the govern- g, October. 
ment at Fort Amsterdam.* 

Though an air of progress and improvement was al- Tardy agri- 
ready manifest in the neighborhood of Manhattan and coioniza- 

T-1 /-\ 1 1- 1 1 • rr 1 ■ 1 1 tio?iofNc\v 

Fort Orange, the unadjusted dimculties between the com- Nether- 
pany and the patroons hindered the prosperity of the rest 
of New Netherland. Even the plantation which De Vries 
had established at Staten Island languished for want of 
proper colonists, for whom he had depended upon his part- 
ners at Amsterdam ; and finding " a beautiful situation" 
of full sixty acres of natural meadow-land on the river lo Feb. 
side, about five miles above Fort Amsterdam, he went 
there to live, partly " for the pleasure of it," and partly as 
there was hay enough for two hundred head of cattle, 
" which was a great article there." Well, however, as 
the patroon was acquainted with the southern and eastern 
coasts of New Netherland, ho had never yet gone up the 
North River. His enterprising nature now led him to voyage of 

De Vries 

visit Fort Orange, to "see the country there;" and his to Fort br- 
circumstantial Journal — the only known narrative of any 
Dutch navigator, except those given by De Laet and Pur- 
chas — has left us an interesting record of the North River 
in the year 1640. 

Sailing from Fort Amsterdam in his own sloop, De Vries i5 Apni. 
arrived in the evening at " Tapaen," where he found aTappan. 
beautiful valley under the mountains, of about five hund- 
red acres in extent, and through which ran a fine stream, 
oflfering attractive mill-seats. Delighted with the spot, 
which, moreover, was so near Fort Amsterdam, he pur- 
chased it from the Indians. From Tappan he crossed over 
to Weckquaesgeekjt where he observed the beautiful un-^^ageek, 

* Trumbull, i., 119 ; Thompson, i., 374, 391. 

t Van Tienboven, in ICW, described this region, which is now the town of Green- 
burg, in West Chester county, as a fine land for cultivation, and well watered. "It is 
situated between two streams called Sint.sinck and Armonck."— Hoi. Doc, v., 134. Bol- 
ton supposes these streams to be, the one which runs through Sing Sing, and the Byram 
River. This region is even now remarkable lor its deciduous trees, among which are 
many of that most beautiful of all evergreens, the American hemlock. 



302 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. IX. dulating country full of evergreens, whence the ship-build- 
ers at Manhattan were accustomed "to procure green 
1640. ^asts." 

26 April. While passing Haverstraw, a creek was noticed, where 
straw. there was a waterfall, which " made such a noise that it 

could be heard from the river." At noon the sloop entered 
The High- the majcstic Highlands, " which are prodigiously high 

stony mountains," where the river, at its narrowmost, was 

"not over five or six hundred paces wide." About sun- 
Dans-ka- set, reaching the " Dans-kamer," where there was a party 

of riotous savages, who only threatened trouble, the sloop's 

company " stood well on their guard."* 

27 April. The next day they came to the " Esoopes," where " a 

creek emptied, and the Indians had some cleared corn- 
catskiii. land." In the evening they reached " the Catskill," 
where there was some open land, upon which the Indians 
were planting corn. Up to this place the river banks were 
" all stony and hilly," and were judged to be " unfit for 

28 April, dwellings." At the " Beeren Island" many Indians were 
and. found fishing, and the beautiful meadows which skirted 

the river's banks were noticed as very " good for cultiva- 
Brandt tion." Toward evening the sloop arrived at Brandt Peel- 
Island. en's, or Castle Island, " which lies a little below Fort Or- 
ange." Inviting De Vries to his house, Peelen astonished 
his guest by telling him that, for ton successive years, he 
had raised beautiful wheat there without ever summer- 
fallowing the land.t 
30 April. Wliile De Vries was enjoying Peelen's hospitality, a sud- 
freshet. dcH frcshct inundated the island, which was ordinarily 
seven or eight feet above the tides. The flood lasted three 
days, during which the colonists were obliged to desert 
their houses and betake themselves to the woods, where 

* The " Dans-kamer" is a point on the west side of the river, above Newburg, which 
etiU retains the name tliat the Dutch gave it before 1040. It means " Dance Chamber." 

t De Vries, 151-153. This statement is confirmed by Mcgapolensis, in his Tract upon 
the Mohawk Indians, Hazard, i., 519 ; and by Van der Donck, in liis Description of N. N., 
p. 27 ; ii., N. Y. H. S. Coll., i., 159, who says, " I had tlie land adjoining this same farm, 
and have seen the eleventh crop, which was tolerably good. The name of the man who 
did this was Brandt Peelen, a native of the province of Utrecht, and at that time ascliepen 
in the colonic of Rensselaerswyck.'" 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 303 

tliey " pitched tents and kindled great fires." The waters chap. ix. 
even ran into Fort Orange. This freshet was probably the 
highest that had occurred on the North River since the 
great flood, which in 1617 swept away the first Fort 
Nassau. 

The experience which De Vries had gained as a pa- Proi.rietors 
troon of Swaanendael did not incline him to look very laerswyck. 
favorably upon the proprietors of Rensselaerswyck ; who, 
"being commissaries of New Netherland," had taken good 
care of themselves, while the "naked fort" Orange was the 
West India Company's sole possession. The patroons had 
all " the farms around, and the traffic, and every peasant 
was a trader." 

Yet the colonists lived amid nature's richest profusion. Abundant 
In the forests, by the water-side, and on the islands, grew products of 
a rank abundance of nuts and plums ; the hills were cov- 
ered with thickets of blackberries ; on the flat lands, near 
the rivers, wild strawberries came up so plentifully, that 
the people went there to "lie down and eat them." Vines 
covered with grapes, " as good and sweet as in Holland," 
clambered over the loftiest trees. Deer abounded in the 
forests, in harvest-time and autumn, " as fat as any Hol- 
land deer can be." Enormous wild turkeys, and myriads 
of partridges, pheasants, and pigeons, roosted in the neigh- 
boring woods. Sometimes the turkeys and deer came 
down to the houses and hog-pens of the colonists to feed ; 
and a stag was frequently sold by the Indians for "a loaf 
of bread, or a knife, or even for a tobacco-pipe." The riv- 
er produced the finest fish; and there was a "great plenty 
of sturgeon," which at that time the " Christians did not 
make use of, but the Indians eat them greedily." Flax 
and hemp grew spontaneously ; peltries and hides were 
brought in great quantities by the savages, and sold for 
trifles ; " the land was very well provisioned with all the 
necessaries of life." European manufactured goods, cloths, 
woolens, and linens were alone scarce and dear.* 

The colonie of Rensselaerswyck was the only successful popu[atlon. 

* De Vries, 152, 153 ; Megapolensis, in Hazard, i., 517-519. 



304 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. IX. patroonship under the charter of 1629 ; and the marvel- 
ous crops of corn which Peelen raised on his fertile island 
were for many years the wonder of New Netherland. Con- 
stant emigration from Holland rapidly increased its popu- 
lation ; and comfortable farm-houses, many of them built 
Bevers- at the patroou's expense, arose at various points. Bevers- 
"^"^ ■ wyck was already a village. Had the colonists contented 
themselves with agriculture, instead of seeking to become 
traders as well, the prosperity of the frontier settlement of 
the province M'^ould have been assured, 
jurisdic- Arendt van Curler continued to act as the commissary 
patroons.^ of the colouie and the representative of the patroon. His 
jurisdiction included all the territory on both sides of the 
North River, between Beeren Island and the mouth of the 
Fort Or- Mohawk, except the precinct of Fort Orange. This post, 
which was the property of the West India Company when 
the first purchases in its neighborhood were made by Van 
Rensselaer, was always occupied by a small garrison, com- 
manded by officers under the immediate direction of the 
provincial authorities at Manhattan.* 
Judicial Accordiug to the Charter of Privileges, the patroon was 

the pa- invested with the "chief command and lower jurisdiction" 
within his colonie. In person, or by deputy, he might ad- 
minister justice, and pronounce and execute sentences for 
all degrees of crime. He had the power of life and death. 
He could decide civil suits. The right of appeal to the 
director and council at Manhattan was, indeed, nominally 
reserved to the colonists ; but the right was virtually an- 
nulled by the obligation under which all the colonists upon 
Colonial ju- the manor were obliged to come, not to appeal from the judg- 
denccand mcnts of the manorial tribunals. The civil law, the ordi- 
nances of the Province of Holland and of the United Neth- 
erlands, and the edicts of the West India Company, and 
of the director and council at Manhattan, were the legal 
code of New Netherland. The same code obtained when 

* Mr. Barnard, in his sketch (p. 127), affirms that the Company "did not own a foot 
or land within the colony ;"' and that "the soil on which Fort Orange stood was included 
in the purchase made by the patroon." These statements, however, do not agree with 
the evidence in our colonial records ; see post, p. 521 



govern- 



i 



1640. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 305 

duly published within the colonic ; and the colonists, in chap. ix. 
addition, were subjected to such laws and regulations as 
the patroon or his local officers might establish. Theoret- 
ically, the patroon was always present in his court baron. 
Practically, the government of the colony was adminis- 
tered by a court composed of two commissaries and two 
schcpens, assisted by the colonial secretary and the schout. 
The laws and customs of the colonic partook largely of the Feu.i;ii 
spirit of feudalism. The terms of the leases under which in^inonui 
the farms were held required a return of all produce ; and tions. 
of this produce the patroon had the pre-emptive right. 
An annual ground-rent was levied on each house erected. 
When property changed hands, the patroon was privileged 
to have the first otl'er ; and if he declined to purchase, he 
was entitled to a certain proportion of the consideration 
money received. He was the legal heir of all intestates. 
Without his leave, none could fish or hunt within the 
manor. At the patroon's mills alone could the colonists 
grind their corn. 

The greater part of the colonists were farmers and their condition 
servants, who had been sent out from Holland at the pa- nists. 
troon's expense. For these farmers lands were set apart, 
houses erected, and stock and agricultural implements pro- 
vided. Besides these substantial encouragements, small 
advances of money and supplies of clothing were frequent- 
ly furnished to the emigrant on his leaving Holland. 
These advances the colonist was to repay after his arrival 
with a large interest. The capital of the patroon was free- 
ly and liberally expended ; and the emigrant began his 
frontier toil with more ample resources and with greater 
facilities than the first tenants of a wilderness generally 
enjoy. Yet the scheme of feudal colonization was not a 
happy one, either for emigrant or patroon. Apart from Results or 
the political evils which it entailed, it necessarily intro- at R7m>^- 
duced a system of accounts which encouraged deceit and 
tempted to dishonesty. The payments of the colonists be- 
gan to fall in arrear ; the patroon's revenue suffered ; and 
he felc himself obliged, before long, to instruct his colonial 

U 



:i06 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



1640. 



Ue Vrics 
visits the 
Cohooes. 



The Mo- 
hawk In- 
dians. 



14 May. 
De Vries 
returns to 
Manhattan 



15 May. 



officers that there was " no latitude to be given to the 
consciences or discretion of the boors, but the law to bo 
stringently enforced,"* 

Anxious to see the interior of the country, De Vries 
went through the forests with several Indians to visit the 
Mohawk. The Falls of the Cohooes seemed to him " as 
high as a church ;"t the waters, as they ran over, were 
•• as clear as crystal, and as fresh as milk." Within the 
sound of their roar lived " Broer Cornelis,"1: at that time 
the frontier colonist of New Netherland. The Mohawks 
were noticed as a brave people, who had " brought the 
other tribes under contribution." They had enormous ca- 
noes, hollowed out of trees, and easily conveying eighteen 
or twenty men. Their arms were bows and arrows, and 
stone axes and hammers, until they got guns from the 
Dutch. " But he was a rascal who first sold them, and 
showed their use ; for they said that it was the Devil, and 
did not dare to touch them. There used to be but one In- 
dian who went about with a gun, whom they called Kal- 
lebacker."^ 

After a six weeks' sojourn, De Vries took leave of the 
commander at Fort Orange, and sailing rapidly down the 
river, anchored, in the evening, at Esopus, " where a creek 
empties, and there is some corn land where some Indians 
live. "II Setting sail at dawn of the next day, he observed 
at the Dans-kamer " many Indians a fishing ;" and pass- 
ing onward through the. Highlands without any adven- 



* IIol. Doc, v., 364, 380, ii., N. Y. H. S. Coll., ii., .^■)0, 334 ; Renss. MSS. ; O'Call., i , 
320-326, 442; Moulton, 391 ; liamard's Sketch, 118-121. 

t With less accuracy than De Vries, Van tier Donck several years afterward " guess- 
ed" those falls to be one hundred and fifty or two hundred feet high. — Bosch, van N. N., 
p. 9. Megapolcnsis (Ha/.ard, i., 519), on the other hand, exactly coincides with De Vries. 
There is a remarkable similarity — almost an identity— in parts of the descriptions by 
these two writers. Mej^apolensis's tract was written in 1044, and published in 1651. 
As De Vries did not print his journal until 1655, several years after his return to Holland, 
I think it very probable that he adopted much of Megapolensis's work, in regard to affairs 
at Fort Orange, in preference to his own less polished language. This would account 
for hia anachronism about Jogues. 

t This person was otherwise known as Cornells Antonissen van Slyck, whose name 
survives in that of an island opposite Schenectady. 1) De Vries, 158. 

tl De Vries uses almost the same expressions in referring to E.sopus, on the 27th of 
.\pril, as he passed up the river. On neither occasion does he speak of any redoubt as 
then existing ; nor lo the presence, at lliat or any previous lime, of Dutch traders there. . 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 307 

ture, he anchored over night at Tappan. The next morn- cmv.ix. 
ing, a strong ebb tide and a fresh gale from the north- 
west carried the sloop, in three hours, safely to Fort Am- jg ^ay. 
sterdam. In the judgment of De Vries, the mountain- 
bordered stream was " little fitted to be peopled ;" for he 
liad seen only " here and there a little corn-land, which 
the Indians had prepared by removing the stones." Yet 
his mariner's eye observed with admiration that '' the 
tide runs up the whole river to Fort Orange ;" and per- 
haps, even at that early day, there were not wanting those 
who foresaw the swelling commerce which now rolls be- 
tween its cultivated banks.* 

Up to this time, the intercourse between the Dutch and Relations 

with the 

the Indians had been, upon the whole, friendly; and with Indians, 
the opening of the fur trade, a large prosperity promised 
to visit New Netherland. But freedom soon ran into 
abuses ; and the temptation of gain led to injurious ex- 
cess. The colonists soon began to neglect agriculture for 
the quicker profits of traffic with the savages. To push 
their trade to the best advantage, the colonists separated 
themselves from each other, and settled their abodes "far 
in the interior of the country." Presently they began to 
allure the savages to their houses " by excessive familiar- 
ity and treating." This soon brought them into contempt Results or 
with the Indians, who, not being always used with im-''omorthe 
partiality, naturally became jealous. Some of the sava- 
ges, too, were occasionally employed as domestic servants 
by the Dutch. This unwise conduct only produced evil. 
The Indians frequently stole more than the amount of 
their wages ; and, running away, they acquainted their 
tribes with the habits, mode of life, and exact numerical 
strength of the colonists. The knowledge thus gained was 
used, before long, with fatal effect against the Europeans, 
whose presence now began to inconvenience the aborio-- 
ines. For the colonists, in their avidity to procure pel- Difficulties 
tries, neglected their cattle, which, straying away without savasw^ 
herdsmen, injured the unfenced corn-fields of the savages. 

* De Vries, 152-161. 



308 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. IX. Finding this the cause of much complaint, Kieft issued a 
proclamation, requiring all the inhabitants whose land ad- 
joined that of the Indians to inclose their farms, so as to 

9 May. prevent trespasses upon the red men. The evil, how- 
ever, continued ; and the Indians avenged themselves by 
"killing the cattle, and even the horses," of the Dutch.* 

Tiieiro- The most unhappy result of all was the supplying of 

plied with the savages with new weapons of offense. The Iroquois 

•ire-arms. .„ ,, i r •iiic 

warriors, from the day they first recoiled before the arque- 
buses of Champlain, dreaded the superiority of the Euro- 
peans. At first they considered a gun " the Devil," and 
would not touch it. But the moment they became ac- 
customed to their use, they were eager to possess the fire- 
arms of Europe. No merchandise was so valuable to 
them. For a musket they would willingly give twenty 
beaver skins. For a pound of powder they were glad to 
barter the value of ten or twelve guilders. Knowing the 
impolicy of arming the savages, the West India Company, 
in wise sympathy with the English government, had de- 
clared contraband the trade in fire-arms ; and had even 
forbidden the supply of munitions of war to the New Neth- 
erland Indians, under penalty of death. But the lust of 
large gains quickly overcame prudence. The extraordi- 
nary profits of the traffic early became generally known ; 
and the colonists of Rensselaerswyck and " free traders" 
from Holland soon bartered away to the Mohawks enough 
guns, and powder, and bullets for four hundred warriors. 
In the neighborhood of Manhattan, where a more rigid po- 
lice was maintained, the supply of arms was prevented. 
The river This, howcver, only excited the hatred of the river tribes 
(ended. against the Dutch ; for the Iroquois, in full consciousness 
of their renovated power, now not only carried open war 
into their enemies' country along the Saint Lawrence and 
the Grreat Lakes, but, more haughtily than ever, exacted 
the tribute which they claimed from the subjugated tribes 
between the Mohawk and the sea.t 

* .Journal van N. N., in IIol. Doc, iii., 97-102 ; Alb. Rec, ii., 81. 
t Journal of N. N., in IIol. Doc, iii., 103 ; Report, in IIol. Doc. ii., 3C8 ; O'Call., i., 
224, 419 ; De Vries, 158 ; Doc Hist. N. Y., iv., :>, 6, 7, 8. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 309 

While the river Indians were brooding over what they chap. ix. 
thought the unjust partiality of the Dutch toward the Ir- 
oquois, a new provocation was added to the existing an- ^,,g j,, " 
noyance. Kieft, alleging "express orders" from Hoi- j^i^JJ^,^"^*^^ 
land, unwisely determined to exact the contribution of moreexas- 
corn, furs, and wampum from the savages in the neigh- ^^'■*"''^- 
borhood of Fort Amsterdam, which he had resolved upon 
the previous autumn. The directors of the Amsterdam 
Chamber afterward positively denied that they had ever 
authorized the measure, or even knew that the contribu- 
tion had been exacted.* But the mischief was already 
done. 

The river Indians were now totally estranged. " The Kiea anuc- 
Hollanders," said the irritated savages, "are Materiotty — rupture. 
men of blood : though they may be something on the wa- 
ter, they are nothing on the land : they have no great sa- 
chem or chief." Perceiving the temper of the Indians in The Dutcu 
his neighborhood, Kieft, in apprehension of a sudden at- arm tuem- 
tack, ordered all the residents of Manhattan to provide lo May. 
themselves with arms ; and, at the firing of three guns, to 
repair, under their respective officers, " to the place ap- 
pointed," properly equipped for service.! 

But without waiting to be attacked, the imprudent di- 
rector soon found an opportunity to become the aggressor. 
It happened that some persons in the company's service, The Rari- 
on their way to the South River, landed at Staten Islanded with ex- 
for wood and water ; and, on re-embarking, stole some staten isi- 
swine belonging to De Vries and to the company, which 
had been left there in charge of a negro. The blame was 
thrown on the innocent Raritan Indians, who lived about 
twenty miles inland. These savages were also accused 
of having attacked the yacht Vrede, which had been sent 
among them to trade for furs. No lives were lost, though 
the Indians made off with the trading party's canoe.t 

Kieft rashly resolved to punish the alleged offenders 

* Alb. Rec, ii., 65, 81 ; Vertoogh van N. N., 289, 300 ; ante, p. 293 ; Hoi. Doc, v., 30. 
t Alb. Rec, ii., 82 ; Journal van N. N., in IIol. Doc, iii., 104 ; Dec Hist. N. Y., iv., 8. 
i De Vries, 161, 103 



310 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. IX, with admonitory severity. Van Tienhoven, the provincial 
~~ secretary, was commissioned to lead a party of fifty sol- 
16 July diers and twenty sailors to attack the Indians and destroy 
dispatched their com, unless they should make prompt reparation. 
R^Htans'^'' When he reached his destination, Van Tienhoven demand- 
ed satisfaction ; but his men, knowing the director's tem- 
per, wished to kill and plunder at once. This Van Tien- 
hoven refused to permit ; but at last, vexed with their im- 
portunity, he left the party, protesting against their dis- 
obedience. Several of the Indians were killed ; their crops 
were destroyed ; and " such tyranny was perpetrated" by 
the company's servants, that there was now little hope of 
regaining the triendship of the savages.* 

Thus was laid the foundation of a bloody war, which, 

before long, desolated New Netherland, whose provincial 

government had now read to the Raritans the lessons 

which, four years before, Massachusetts had read to the 

Block Island Indians, Determined to pursue his policy 

of levying contributions on the river tribes, Kieft soon aft- 

90 October, crward sent sloops up to Tappan ; but the savages de- 

tion ie!vied murrcd against the novel tribute. " They wondered how 

pans.^ '^^ the sachem at the fort dared to exact such things from 

them." "He must be a very shabby fellow; he had 

come to live in their land when they had not invited him, 

and now came to deprive them of their corn for nothing."! 

The eav- They refused to pay the contribution, because the soldiers 

ages refuse i • i 

to pay. in Fort Amsterdam were no protection to the savages, who 
should not be called upon for their support ; because they 
had allowed the Dutch to live peaceably in their country, 
and had never demanded recompense ; because when the 
Hollanders, " having lost a ship there, had built a new one, 
they had supplied them with victuals and all other neces- 
saries, and had taken care of them for two winters, until 
the ship was finished," and therefore the Dutch were 
under obligations to them ; because they had paid full 
price for every thing they had purchased, and there was, 

* De Vries, 101 ; Alb. Rec, i., 263 ; ii., 95 ; Uol. Doc, iii., 165 ; v., 314 ; O'CuU., i., 227 
t De VriDS, 162. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 311 

therefore, no reason why they should supply the Holland- chap. ix. 
ers now " with maize for nothing ;" and, finally, said the 
savages, because, " if we have ceded to you the country 
you are living in, we yet remain masters of what we have 
retained for ourselves."* 

In the mean time, the States G-eneral had instructed i3 Marcii. 
their deputies to the College of the XIX. to aid in recon- pany's d r 
ciling the differences between the patroons and the com- arranged. 
pany, and devise some plan by which the colonization of 
the province might be promoted, and its inhabitants put 
" in the best condition." The company accordingly agreed 
upon a new charter of " Freedoms and Exemptions" for 
all patroons, masters, and private persons, which was senti9.ruiy 
to the Hague, and promptly approved. 

The new charter amended materially the obnoxious in- New ciiar- 
strument of 1629. "All good inhabitants of the Nether- troons. 
lands" were now allowed to select lands and form colo- 
nies, which, however, w^ere to be reduced in size. Instead 
of four Dutch miles, they were limited to one mile along 
the shore of a bay or navigable river, and two miles into 
the country. A free right of way by land and water was 
reserved to all ; and, in case of dispute, the director gen- 
eral of New Netherland was to decide. The feudal privi- 
leges of erecting towns and appointing their officers ; the 
high, middle, and lower jurisdiction; and the exclusive 
right of hunting, fishing, fowling, and grinding corn, were 
continued to the patroons as an estate of inheritance, with 
descent to females as well as males. On every such 
change of ownership, the company was to receive a pair 
of iron gauntlets and twenty guilders, within one year. 

Besides the patroons, another class of proprietors was Heads o< 
now established. AVhoever should convey to New Neth- 
erland five grown persons besides himself, was to be rec- 
ognized as a " master or colonist;" and could occupy two 
hundred acres of land, with the privilege of hunting and 
fishing. If settlements of such colonists should increase 
in numbers, towns and villages might be formed, to which 

* Breeden Raedt, 14, 15. 



;U2 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

'HAP. IX. municipal governments were promised. The magistrates 

~~~~in such towns were to be selected by the director and 
1 640 

council, " from a triple nomination of the best qualified in 

the said towns and villages." From these courts, and 
from the courts of the patroons, an appeal might lie to the 
director and council at Manhattan. The company guar- 
anteed protection, in case of war, to all the colonists ; but 
each adult male emigrant was bound to provide himself, 
before he left Holland, with a proper musket, or a hanger 
and side arms. 
commcr- The Commercial privileges, which the first charter had 
leges ex- restricted to the patroons, were now extended to all " free 
colonists," and to all the stockholders in the company. 
Nevertheless, the company adhered to a system of onerous 
imposts, for its own benefit ; and required a duty of ten per 
cent, on all goods shipped to New Netherland, and of five 
per cent, on all return cargoes, excepting peltries, which 
were to pay ten per cent, to the director at Manhattan be- 
fore they could be exported. All shipments from New 
Netherland were to be landed at the company's ware- 
houses in Holland. The prohibition of manufactures 
within the province was, however, abolished. The com- 
pany renewed its pledge to send over " as many blacks 
as possible ;" and disclaiming any interference with the 
" high, middle, and lower jurisdiction" of the patroons, re- 
served to itself supreme and sovereign authority over New 
Netherland, promising to appoint and support competent 
ofllicers " for the protection of the good, and the punish- 
ment of the wicked." The provincial director and coun- 
cil were to decide all questions respecting the rights of the 
company, and all complaints, whether by foreigners or in- 
habitants of the province ; to act as an Orphan's and Sur- 
rogate's Court ; to iudsfc in criminal and religious affairs, 

Itie Re- O '.la n ' 

rornied and generally to administer law and justice. No other 
Church to religion " save that then taught and exercised by author- 

be thi' rclig- '^ r> J 

>ou.svvor- ity in the Reformed Church in the United Provinces," 

ship of the -' ' ' 

j.rovjnce. -yyas to be publicly sanctioned in New Netherland, where 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 313 

the company bound itself to maintain proper preachers, chap. ix, 
schoohnasters, and comforters of the sick.* 

New Netherland soon felt a fresh impulse to her pros- p^oj^^g^ „,. 
perity. De Vries now " took hold" in earnest of his pur- j^'""'''"' 
chase, the previous spring, from the Indians at Tappan, 
and began a colonie at his new estate, which he named 
"Vriesendael." It was beautifully situated aloni? the'^^??-. 

'' ~ De Tries at 

river side, sheltered by high hills ; and the fertile valley, j'^^gp,";^''"" 
through which wound a stream, affording handsome mill 
seats, yielded hay enough, spontaneously, for two hund- 
red head of cattle. Buildings were soon erected, and 
Vriesendael became, for several years, the home of its en- 
ergetic owner.t 

Early the next year, another colonie was established, 1641 
" within an hour's walk" of Vriesendael, by Myndert Myn- norst'rcoi- 
dertscn van der Horst, of Utrecht. The new plantation ex- iJadun- 
tended from " Achter Cul,"| or Newark Bay, north toward^''' 
Tappan, and included the valley of the Hackinsack River. 
The head-quarters of the settlement were about five or six 
hundred paces from the village of the Hackinsack Indians, 
where Van der Horst's people immediately commenced the 
erection of a post, to be garrisoned by a few soldiers. s^ 

Cornelis Melyn now returned to New Netherland, with 20 August. 
his family and servants, to begin a colonie on Staten Isl- Meiyn on 

•^ . . Staten Isl- 

and, an order for which he had procured in Holland from and. 

the directors of the Amsterdam Chamber. De Vries, who 
was already in possession of a part of that island, felt ag- 
grieved at this interference ; but Kieft, who had himself 
just established a small distillery and a buckskin manu- 
factory there, soon obtained the patroon's consent to Me- 
lyn's establishing a plantation near the Narrows, provided 
'' his rights should not be prejudiced." The Staten Island 
Indians soon afterward committing acts of hostility, the 

* Hoi. Doc, ii., 234-262 ; O'Call., i., 218-222. t De Vries, 162, 180, 182. 

t " Achter Cul," or " Achter Kol," now called " Newark Bay," was so named by the 
Dutch, because it was " achter," or " behind" the Great Hay of the North River The pas- 
sage to the Great Bay was known as the " Kil van Cul," t'roiii which has been derived the 
present name of " the Kills." The English soon corrupted the phrase into " Arthur Cull's" 
Bay.— Bin.son's Memoir, 93. 

It De Vries, 165 ; IIol. Doc, iii., 99, 135 ; O'Call., i., 238 ; S. Hazard, Ann. Penn., 51, 56. 



;314 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

CHAP. IX. director and council ordered a small redoubt to be built on 
one of the headlands ; and the soldiers stationed there were 
12 Sept ' ordered to make a signal by raising a flag, to warn the 
I^J'jjt^'J^Jf jjjoihcers at Fort Amsterdam whenever any vessels arrived 
roV^.^"^ in the lower bay. In the course of the following sum- 
mer, Kieft issued a formal patent, granting to Melyn the 
privileges of a patroon over all Staten Island, excepting 
De Vrics's reserved "bouwerij."* 

Municipal affairs engaged much of the attention of the 
11 April, bustlinjj director. Fresh resfulations were published for 

New police ^ ^ ^ _ 

reguia- the better observance of Sunday ; and the tapping of beer 

during Divine service, and after ten o'clock at night, was 

Provincial forbidden. The currency of the province, too, was re- 
currency "^ ' 
reformed, formed. The coins of Europe were seldom seen in New 

Netherland. Payments were almost universally made in 
sewan or wampum ; and for many years the Sunday con- 
tributions in the churches continued to be paid in this na- 
tive currency, of which that of Long Island and Manhat- 
tan was always esteemed the best. Of this " good splen- 
did sewan, usually called Manhattan's sewan," four beads 
were reckoned equal to one stiver. By degrees, however, 
inferior wampum, loose and unstrung, began to take the 
place of the better currency ; and even, in the judgment 
of the director, to threaten "the ruin of the country." An 
isApru. order in council, therefore, directed that the loose beads 
wampum should pass at the rate of six for a stiver. The only rea- 
law. son why the " loose sewan" was not entirely prohibited 
was, " because there was no coin in circulation, and the 
laborers, boors, and other common people having no other 
money, would be great losers." To encourage the grow- 
ing tendency toward agricultural pursuits, two annual 
Fairs estab- fairs, the ouc for cattle and the other for hogs, were soon 
■3 Sept. afterward established at Manhattan.! 

Had the government of New Netherland been in the 
hands of a " prudent" director, its prosperity would, per- 

* De Vries, 163 ; Alb. Roc, ii., 133 ; O'Call., 1., 228, 239 ; ii., 592. De Vries's statement 
is the first record of the establishment of a marine telegraph in New York harbor. 

t Alb. Rec, ii., 110, 118, 1.14; Van Tienhoven's Korte bericht, in Hoi. Doc, v., 360; 
and in ii., N. Y. II. S. Coll., ii., 332. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 315 

haps, have now been permanently established. But pru- chap. ix. 
dence was not an element in Kieft's character. His levy 
of contributions had already alienated the savages around Temper or 
Manhattan ; and the cruelties inflicted upon the Raritans ^^J'''' 
had aroused a feeling of revenge, which only waited a fit- 
ting moment for its display. 

That moment came. While they caioled the dnector The Ran- 

laus (It- 

by peaceful messages, the Raritans suddenly attacked DestroyDc 
Vries's unprotected plantation on Staten Island. Four of ony at stai- 

en Island. 

his planters were killed, and his dwelling and tobacco June, 
house burned. Thus the feeble colony was smothered at 
its birth, through Kieft's blind folly in " visiting upon the 
Indians the wrongs which his own people had done."* 

Folly breeds folly. The director no sooner heard how 
the Raritans had avenged their wrongs, than he resolved 
upon their extermination. " The savages of Raritan daily Kieft offers 

' " '' rewards lor 

grow bolder — so began the proclamation, in which Kieft the onend- 
offered a bounty of ten fathoms of wampum for the head 4 July. 
of every one of that tribe. For each head of the actual 
murderers, twenty fathoms were promised.! 

Incited by the offered bounties, some of the River In- 
dians attacked the Raritans. In the autumn, a chief of 2 Nov 
the Tankitekes, or Haverstraw tribe, named Pacham, provoked. 
" who was great with the governor at the fort," came in 
triumph to Manhattan, with a dead man's hand hanging 
on a stick. This he presented to Kieft as the hand of the 
chief who had killed the Dutch on Staten Island. " I 
have taken revenge for the sake of the Swannekens," said 
Pacham, "for I love them as my best friends."! 

Meanwhile, the island of Manhattan had become the 
scene cf a bloody retribution. Revenge never dies in the 
breast of the Indian. It may slumber for years, but it is 
never appeased until the "just atonement" which Indian 
law demands is fully paid. The young Weckquaesgeek 
savage, w^iosc uncle had been murdered near "the Kolck," 
during the building of Fort Amsterdam, was now grown 

* De Vries, 163 ; Alb. Rec, ii., 128 ; Winthrop, ii., 32. t Alb. Rec, ii., 128, 129. 

t De Vries, 163. The Indians, both on the South and North Rivers, were in the habit 
of calling the Dutch " Swannekens." 



SIQ HISTORT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ca^. Tx. TO man's estate, and upon him Indian usage imposed ihe 

I duty of avenging his kinsman's unatoned death. The 

■ Weckquaesgeeks were in the constant habit of visiting 

Manhattan : and their beaten trail passed near the Deutel 

Bay. on the East River, where Claes Smits, a harmless 

Butohman. had built a small bouse, and was carrying on 

A D«K*- the trade of a wheel- wright. The nephew of the murder- 

^aw* « ed savage, comins to the wheel- wright's humble dwelling. 

3«T stopped to barter some beaver skins for duffels. "While 

the unsuspecnng mechanic "was stoopmg over the great 
chest in which he kept his goods, the savage, seizing an 
axe, killed bim by a blow on the neck. The murderer 
quickly plundered his victim's lonely abode, and escaped 
with his booty. 

TteWeA- Kieft promptly sent to Weckquaesgeek to demand satis- 
&ction. But the murderer replied, that while the fort 
^'as building, he, and his uncle, and another Indian, bring- 
ing some beaver skins to trade, were attacked by some 
Dutchmen, near the '• Fresh Water." who kUled his un- 
cle, and stole his peltries. " This happened while I was 
a small boy," said the savage, " and I vowed to revenge 
it upon the Dutch when I grew up : I saw no better 
chance than with this Claes the wheel-wright." The sa- 
chem of the tribe reftised to deliver up the criminal ; who. 
he said, had but avenged, after the manner of his race, the 
mtirder of his kinsman by the Dutch- more than twenty 
years before. Some soldiers were then sent out from the 
fort to arrest the assassin : but they returned disappointed.* 

KJeftsaM- The director burned to treat the Weckquaesgeeks as he 
had treated the Raritans, and commenc« open hostilities. 
Yet he feared to exasperate the people, who charged him 
with seeking a war in order to make " a wrong reckoning 
with die company." and who now began to reproach him 
for personal cowardice. It was all very well, they said. 
for him- •• who could secure his own life in a good fort, 
oat of which he had not slept a single night in all the 

* De Tne«,lM; ante. p. I6S.2I2; BoL Doc^iU373; t.,314; Jonrad raa K. K., in 
Bat. Doc iii- IM ; Dk- Hi*t. N. Y.. it, K 9. 



«Ta-. 



WILLL\.M KIEFT, DIRECTOR GEXER.\L. 317 

vea.r:5 he had been here." Kieft perceiving that he would cha?. l\ 
have to bear the whole responsibility of the proposed war. 
reluctantly sought the counsel of the community.* 

All the masters and heads of families at Manhattan and 
itc5 neighborhood were accordingly summoned to meet at a au^u^; 
Fort Amsterdam, " to resolve there on something of the 
first necessity.''! On the appointed day. Kieft submitted » ahz-i--. 
these questions to the first popular meetinsr ever held in Firs: mt--- 
New Netherland. " Is it not just that the murder lately owunon.-: 
committed by a savage upon Claes Smits be avenged andp'rovincr. 
punished ; and in case the Indians will not surrender the 
murderer at our requisition, is it not just to destroy the 
whole village to which he belongs ? In what manner, 
and when ought this to be executed ? By whom can this 
be effected ?" 

The assembly promptly chose "Twelve Select Men"' to- Twelve 
consider the propositions submitted by the director. These po-.nted 
persons were Jacques Bentyn, Maryn Adriaensen. Jan Jan- 
sen Dam, Hendrick Jansen. David Pietersen de Tries. 
Jacob Stoffelsen, Abram Molenaar, Frederik Lubbertsen. 
Jochem Pietersen (Kuyter), Grerrit Dircksen, George Rap- 
elje. and Abram Planck. Of these first representatives 
of the people of Xew Xetherland. De Vries was chosen 
president. The '• Twelve Men*' were all Hollanders, or 
emisrants from Holland. t 

The popular representatives did not delay their answers s Au^st. 
to Kieft's questions. While they agreed that the murder iheTweiTe 
of Smits should be avenged, they thought that •• God and 
the opportunity*' ought to be taken into consideration : 

' De Vries. 165. t Alb. Rec.. ii., 130. 

i Hoi. Doc., v., 337-329 ; Alb. Rec., ii.. 136, 137 ; u., N. Y. H. S. ColL, i.. 277. 278. De 
Vries, 165. says that Kieft caased the election of the Twelve Men "to aid him in maaas- 
ina: the affairs of the country ;" bnt Van der Doock. in Uis "^ Vertoort," wrinen ei^ 
years afterward, affirms that they " had in judicial maaers neither vote aor adriee, bat 
were chosen in view of the war. and some other occorretjces, to serve as cloaks and eals- 
paws."— iL, N. Y. H. S. Coll., ii.. 300. Of these " Twelve Men." Bentyn was one of Taa 
TwUler's cooncil ; Adriaensen came out as a colonist to Rensselaerswyck in 1631 : Dam 
was also a colonist there in 1634 : Hendrick Jansen was a tailor at Manhattan : StofiVtses 
was one of Van Twiiler s commissaries, and had ■niried Ike widow of Van Voorst, of 
Pavonia ; Lubbertsen was ■• first boatswain ;" Pietersen. or as be osaallv wrote, Kuyter. 
came out in 1639; Rapelje was one of the original Walloon settlers at the Waal-bost: 
Planck, or Verplanck. was a farmer at Paulas' Hoeck ; of Moieoaar and Dircksen the re©- 
ords sav little ; of De Vries much. 



I 



318 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. IX. and that the director should make the necessary prepara- 
tions, and especially procure a sufficient number of coats 
■ of mail " for the soldiers, as well as for the freemen, who 
are willing to pay their share in these expenses." Trade 
and intercourse with the savages should, nevertheless, 
be temporarily maintained, and no hostile measure be at- 
tempted by any one, " of whatever state or condition," ex- 
cept against the murderer himself, until the hunting sea- 
son. Then it would be proper to send out two parties, 
the one to land near the "Archipelago," or Norwalk Isl- 
ands, and the other at Weckquaesgeek, " to surprise them 
from both sides." As the director was commander of the 
soldiery as well as governor, he " ought to lead the van ;" 
while the community offered their persons "to follow his 
steps and obey his commands." Yet they humanely add- 
ed, "we deem it advisable that the director send further, 
once, twice, yea, for the third time, a shallop, to demand 
the surrender of the murderer in a friendly manner, to 
punish him according to his deserts."* 

De vrics'8 To thcsc official answers of the Twelve Men De Vries, 

pacific 

counsels, who keenly felt his double losses at Swaanendael and 
Staten Island, added his own opinion. The Dutch were 
all scattered about the country, and their cattle running 
wild in the woods. " It would not be advisable to attack 
the Indians until we had more people, like the English, 
who had built towns and villages." Besides, the directors 
of the Amsterdam Chamber were resolutely opposed to 
war ; for when applied to for permission to commence 
hostilities against the South River Indians, who had de- 
stroyed Swaanendael, they had replied, " you must keep 
at peace with the savages. But Kieft " did not wish to 
listen."! 

Kieft urges At length the hunting season came ; and Kieft, impa- 
tient to attack the Weckquaesgeeks, was even more anx- 
ious to secure the concurrence of the Twelve Men. To ac- 

1 Nov. complish his favorite design, he now asked them, separate- 
ly, for their opinions on the question of immediate hostiJ- 

* Alb. Rec, ii., 136, 137 ; Hoi. Doc, v., 326-329. t De Vries, 165. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 319 

ities. Had he convened them in a hody, he suspected, and chap. ix. 
with reason, that the popular delegates would hardly con- 
tent themselves with answering his queries ; they would '' 
very probably turn their attention to the condition of the 
provincial government. But the impatient director was 
again foiled. The separate opinions of a majority of the The 

Twelve 

Twelve Men were for procrastination. The savages were Men op- 
still too much on their guard : it was better, at ail events, uies. 
to await the arrival of the next vessel from the Father- 
land. De Vries, the president, was decidedly opposed to 
hostilities with the Indians under any circumstances.* 
For a time longer war was averted. 

The Swedes had, meanwhile, continued in quiet pos-The 

. . 1 n 1 T> • ini n Swedes on 

session of l^ort Clu'istma, on the bouth Kiver. The nrst the south 
year after their settlement they prospered abundantly, and 
did " about thirty thousand florins' injury" to the trade of 
the Hollanders, During the second winter of their resi- 
dence, however, receiving no succors from home, they 
wore reduced to great extremities, and so much discour- 1640. 
aged, that the next spring they resolved "to break up, and '^''"'" 
come to Manhattan."! But unexpected relief was at hand. 
The fame of the pleasant valley of the South River, 
which had now reached Scandinavia, began also to spread 
through the United Provinces ; and several prominent Hol- 
landers, in apparent disregard of the claims of their own 
West India Company, undertook to send out emigrants 
there, under the authority of the Swedish government. A 
letter, signed by Oxenstierna and his colleagues, was ac- 24 January 
cordingly obtained by Van der Horst and others, of Utrecht, ish^jveni- 
declaring that they were permitted " to establish them- (ourage 
selves on the north side of the South River, and there to from iioi- 
found a colony ;" and a passport was also issued in favor soutu riv. 
of the ship Fredenburg, commanded by Jacob Powelson, 
who was about departing from Holland with colonists for 
New Sweden. Van der Horst, however, upon further con- 
sideration, apparently preferring to avail himself of the 

* Alb. Rec, ii^ 140, 141 ; ii., N. Y. H. S. Coll., i., 278. 

t llol. Doc, viii., 50, 52, 53 ; S Hazard, Ann. Penn., v., 45, 50, 56. 



320 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



Chap. IX. 



1640. 

Hockham- 

mer's 

grant. 



;(() .lanuary 
Joost de Bo- 
gaerdt com- 
mandant. 



April. 
The 

Swedes en- 
couraged. 



15 October 



Peter Hol- 
lasndare. 



Mounoe 
Kling. 



new charter for patroons, did not accept the Swedish grant, 
which was, therefore, transferred to Henry Hockhamraer. 
It authorized him and his associates to send out vessels, 
cattle, and colonists from Holland under the royal protec- 
tion, and to take up as much land on both sides of the 
South River as should be necessary for their purposes, pro- 
vided it be " at least four to five Grerman miles from Fori 
Clii-istina." The exercise of the Reformed religion of Hol- 
land was guaranteed, and the support of ministers and 
schoolmasters enjoined. Joost de Bogaerdt was appoint- 
ed special commandant of the new colony, at an annual 
salary from the Swedish government of five hundred flor- 
ins, or two hundred rix dollars, "to be remitted to his 
banker in Holland" by th'e Swedish resident at the Hague.* 

Powelson reached the Delaware early in the spring. His 
arrival gladdened the desponding Swedes, who had de- 
termined to abandon Fort Christina the next day. The 
new colonists from Holland were soon settled a few miles 
south of the fort, under the superintendence of De Bo- 
gaerdt. Traffic with the Indians was now prosecuted 
with vigor, and the Dutch West India Company's trade 
on the South River was "entirely ruined." In the follow- 
ing autumn, Kieft wrote from Manhattan to the Amster- 
dam Chamber, informing them of the " re-enforcement of 
people" which the Swedes had received the previous spring, 
"otherwise it had been arranged for them to come here;" 
but stating his intention to treat them " with every po- 
liteness, although they commenced, with many hostilities, 
forcibly to build, attack our fort, trading, and threatening 
to take our boats. "t 

The same autumn, Peter Holkrndare arrived from Got- 
tenburg, at Fort Christina, as deputy governor of New 
Sweden, bringing a number of fresh colonists and the 
promised suppli(\s. Mounce Kling, who had formerly act- 
ed as deputy to Minuit, followed soon afterward with two 
vessels. The Swedes now purchased additional lands 



* Swedish Documents, in Hazard's Reg. of Penn., i v., 177 ; S. Ila^rd's Ann. Penn., 51-56, 
+ Ho!. Doc, viii., 53, 54 ; S. Hazard, Ann. Penn., 56, 57 ; Acrelius, 411 ; Ferris, SS-** 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 321 

from the Indians ; and, in token of the sovereignty of chap. ix. 
their queen, set up "the arms and crown of Sweedland." 
The next year, it is said, that Peter Minuit died at hispg^i^^f' 
post, and was buried at Fort Christina, which he had"^'"""' 
" protected during three years." On his death, HoUien- 
dare, the deputy governor, succeeded to the command, 
" who, after one year and a half, returned to Sweden, and 
obtained a military post there."* 

The enterprising men of Connecticut were now hoping New na- 
to obtain a foothold on the Delaware, which, hitherto, had poses a 
been occupied exclusively by the Dutch and the Swedes, ori the 
Sometime during the year 1640, Captain Nathaniel Turn-er. 
er, as the agent of New Haven, is said to have made a 
large purchase of lands "on both sides of Delaware Bay 
or River." In the following spring, a "bark or ketch" Lambenoa 
was fitted out at New Haven by G-eorge Lamberton, a weii's ex- 
principal merchant there, and dispatched to the Delaware, ^^ ' '"" 
under the command of Robert Cogswell. When the ves- 
sel reached Manhattan, Kieft learning her destination, and 
warned by his experience with the Hartford people, in- 
stantly protested against the enterprise ; and notified the 8 April. 
New England adventurers not to "build nor plant upon Manhatia^ 
the South River, lying within the limits of New Nether- 
land, nor on the lands extending along there," unless they 
would agree to settle themselves under the States G^en- 
eral and the West India Company, and swear allegiance 
to them. But upon Cogswell's assurance that they did 
not intend to intrude upon any territory over which the 
States General had authority ; and that if they found no 
land free from claims, they would either peaceably return, 
or else settle themselves in allegiance to the Dutch gov- 
ernment, the New Haven bark was allowed to proceed.! pri^^ '" 

Aided by a refugee Pequod sachem, the New Haven 
adventurers succeeded in purchasing from the Indians 
" what land they desired" on both sides of the South Riv- 

* Acrelius, in N. Y. H. S. Coll., ii., 410 ; Ferris, 57 ; O'Call., i., .-iOG ; Mulford, 83 ; S. 
Hazaid's Ann. Penn., 57, 59, CO ; ante, p. 284, note. 

t riol. Doc, ix., 205; Hazard, ii., 213, 265; Trumbull, i., 119; O'Call., i., 231 ; S. 
Hazard, Ann. Penn., 53. 



'i22 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ghap. IX. er. Trading-houses were immediately commenced at the 

Varkens' Kill, near Salem in New Jersey, and also "on 

.s 1 ents*^^*^ Schuylkill," where about twenty English families set- 
at Varkens- ^\q^[ tliemselvcs. The same summer, the General Court 

Kill and the ' 

lo'^v^^ust' ^^ New Haven resolved that the plantations in Delaware 
Bay should he considered " in combination with this 
town ;" and Turner was formally authorized to go there, 
" for his own advantage and the public good, in settling 
the affairs thereof."* 
Vexatious Wliilc advcuturcrs from New Haven were thus intrud- 
\heuti° ing within southern New Netherland, the English colo- 
i^Aprii!' *■ nists at Hartford were pertinaciously vexing the Dutch, 
and endeavoring, by petty annoyances around Fort Good 
Hope, to drive them out of the valley of the Connecticut. 
"Will ye three resist the whole English village?" cried 
the assailants, as the Holland plowmen sturdily endeav- 
ored to maintain their rights. An appeal to Governor 
Hopkins brought no redress. Upon receiving intelligence 
6 June. of tliesc ucw provocatious, Kieft ordered a force of fifty 
ccedings'" men to be dispatched, in two yachts, to Fort Good Hope, 
under the command of La Montague. " But," wrote Win- 
throp, " it pleased the Lord to disappoint the purpose" of 
the Dutch ; for the Staten Island Indians just then sud- 
denly attacking De Vries's plantation, the New Nether- 
land authorities "were forced to keep their soldiers at 
The Hart- homc to defend themselves." The Hartford people, how- 
referSr'^ cvcr, thouglit it prudent to lay a statement of their case 
Massachu- bcforc the government of Massachusetts, " for advice about 
21 Jane, the difference between them and the Dutch." Belling- 
ham, by direction of the General Court, accordingly "re- 
riepiy. turned answer, without determining of either side, but 
advising to a moderate way, as the yielding some more 
land to the Dutch house — for they had left them but thirty 
acres."! Thus Massachusetts quietly reproved the cupid- 
ity of Connecticut. 

* S- Hazard, Ann. Pcnn , 50 ; Winthrop, ii., 62, 76 ; Ferris, 59 ; Mulford, 71. 
t Hoi. Doc. ix., 199-203 ; Alb. Rec, ii., 123 ; Winthrop, ii., 32 ; Hazard, it, 284, 265 ; 
i., N. V. H. S. Coll., 271, 275. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 323 

In the mean time, events had occurred in England cuap. jx. 
vvliich were to have a material influence upon the rival ~~~~~ 
European colonies in America. Soon after the meeting p,ogreBs or 
of the " Long Parliament," among the members of which [ans^n'^Kn- 
were many zealous friends of New England, the Puritan ^'*"'^" 
emigrants were urged to " send over some" to solicit fa- 
vors for them in that body, to which the king had now 
left " great liberty." At first, the suggestion was declined. 
But the next year, news of the fall of the Earl of Straf- 1641. 
ford, and of Archbishop Laud, their "great enemy," reach- ^ •''*"'^- 
ing Massachusetts, the General Court thought fit "to send 
some chosen men into England, to congratulate the hap- 
py success there," and " to be ready to make use of any 
opportunity God should offer, for the good of the country 
here." The persons chosen for this service were the Delegates 
" fiery" Hugh Peters, pastor of the church in Salem, Massachu- 
Thomas Welde, pastor of the church in Roxbury, and 
William Hibbins, of Boston. The younger Winthrop also 
accompanied the commissioners, who presently sailed fora.vuguRi. 
England by way of Newfoundland.* 

The Hartford people now determined to arrange, if pos- Hopkins 
sible, their controversy with the Dutch. Edward Hop- Hartford, 
kins, who had just been succeeded by John Haynes as 
governor, being about to visit London, the General Courtosepi. 
desired him " to arbitrate or issue the difference betwixt 
the Dutch and us, as occasion shall be ofTered when he is 
in England."! As Peters was well acquainted with some 
of the leading members of the "West India Company, it 
was thought that advantage might be taken of that cir- 
cumstance to " pacify" the directors, and arrange, if pos- 
sible, the questions in dispute between New Netherland 
and New England. t Winthrop and Haynes, as governors 
of Massachusetts and Connecticut, accordingly signed a 
joint letter authorizing Peters, "if occasion permit him to 
go to the Netherlands, to treat with the West India Com- 
pany there concerning a peaceable neighborhood between" 

♦ Winthrop, ii., 25, 26, 31, 32 ; Chalmers's Revolt of the Colonies, i., 83, 84. 

\ Col. Rec. Conn., 68. 1 Winthrop, ii., 32. 



324 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. IX. the New England and New Netherland colonists. A se- 
~~77~"ries of "propositions," the scope of which was to induce 
looctober. ^^6 Amsterdam directors to define the limits between the 
mSnX Dutch and English territory ; " abstain from molesting" 
witiuhT" tl^e English on the Connecticut ; and " see in the inhab- 
company!'' ifa^its of Ncw England, who number about forty thousand 
souls, a people who covet peace in their ways, the plant- 
ing of the G-ospel above all things, and not to cause trouble 
or injury in any manner whatever to the company," was 
also sent out to Peters.* 

The New England agents, on reaching London, found 

many warm friends of the Puritan colonies. Among these, 

ur. Law- was Dr. Lawrence Wright, of the Charter House, an " hon- 

wright, of ored friend" of Hopkins.! Wright was also a familiar 

London. ... 

correspondent of Sir William Boswell, the English minis- 
ter at the Hague ; to whom he immediately sent a memo- 
1642. rial which Hopkins had drawn up, on the subject of the 
^January, gj^jyjjjj]-^ settlements in Connecticut. In a few days, Bos- 

i February. ^ ^ j ' 

j^°sweu's ^vcU replied to Wright, lamenting that the unsettled state 
Wright, of English domestic politics had diminished his own in- 
fluence with the Dutch government ; but suggesting that 
the parties in London who had drawn the memorial 
should procure from Parliament, or, " at least, from the 
House of Commons," some declaration, " whereby it may 
appear that they take notice and care of our people and 
plantations in those parts." Formal instructions on the 
subject should also be sent him from the council ; and 
" persons of quality" should acquaint the Dutch ambassa- 
dor in London with the state of the case. But, above all, 
Boswell urged that, in the mean time, the English in Con- 
necticut should " not forbear to put forward their planta- 
tions, and crowd on — crowding the Dutch out of those 
places where they have occupied. "$ 

* Hoi. Doc, vii., 131 ; ix., 224, 225 ; O'Call., i., 235, 236. As these papers are re-tran»- 
lated from the Dutch in the Archives at the Hague, they may not be precisely identical 
with tlie original English. But they show, at all events, that Winthrop is strangely in- 
accurate in .stating that, when Peters "undertook to pacify the West India Company," 
they " would not treat with him," "for xvant of commission from those of Hartford." 

t Winthrop, i., 229. i Trumbull's Col. Rcc. Conn., App., p. 565, 566. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 325 



CHAPTER X. 
1642-1643. 

The spirit of popular freedom which the Dutch colo- chap. x. 
nists brought with them to New Netherland had already 
made itself felt by the provincial government. Under the p^.^^ ^^[, 
pressure of public sentiment, Kieft, though intrusted with y^^'^'f, ^^i^ 
almost dictatorial authority, had been compelled to sum- |J^^J,''^*|j^^ 
mon the people into council, and yield his personal wishes 
to the judgment of their representatives. The war which 
the director was anxious to begin, had been postponed by 
the votes of the Twelve Men. But Kieft did not abandon 
his design ; the moment winter had fairly set in, he con- 
voked again the popular delegates. 

The Twelve Men met accordingly. The murderer of auanuary. 

The 

Smits had not been delivered up ; and the Indians were Twelve 

1 • 1 • • T 1 <- 1 '^'^" again 

now on tlieir huntmg excursions, it was, therefore, agreed convoked, 
that an expedition should be prepared at once to attack 
the Weckquaesgeeks. The director should head it in per- 
son, and the commissariat of the company should provide 
ammunition and necessary provisions. Such of the expe- 
dition as might be wounded while on service should be 
nursed, and their families maintained at the expense of 
the company, which had promised to "protect and de- 
fend" all the colonists.* Upon these conditions the Twelve Assent to 
Men assented to the hostile measures which Kieft so urg- posed expe- 
ently pressed. Their assent was unwilhngly given; itasainsttue 
was conditional, specific, and limited; it was obtained quaes- 
only after repeated solicitations had failed fo procure the 
surrender of an identified murderer ; it had no ultimate 

* Hoi. Doc, v., 330, 332. 



326 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. X. design to exterminate an aboriginal race, that strangers 
might turn the red man's pleasant hunting grounds into 
fields of waving corn. 

Popular But the popular representatives were not content to lim- 

spirit of the . . . * ^ 

rvveive it their action to the registry of a proposed decree of their 
director. The time had now come for the people to take 
the initiative. For many generations, the towns and vil- 
lages of the Fatherland had been accustomed to the gov- 
ernment of magistrates elected by their fellow - citizens. 
Domineering arrogance was restrained, and honest ambi- 
tion encouraged, by, the system of rotation in office, under 
which the burghers of Holland annually invested new 
candidates with municipal dignities. The self-relying 
men, who had won their country from the sea, and their 
liberties from the relaxing grasp of feudal prerogative, 
knew that they could govern themselves ; and they did 
govern themselves.* 

Why should the system, under which Holland had pros- 
pered and growTi great, not be transplanted into New 
Netherland ? It was true, indeed, that the circumstances 
of the Fatherland differed somewhat from those of its prov- 
ince. The supreme government at the Hague had unwise- 
ly committed the management of New Netherland to a 
commercial corporation, whose enormous monopoly, at the 
same time, comprehended interests in comparison with 
which even the affairs of an embryo empire were too often 
esteemed insignificant. But if the Fatherland sometimes 
forgot its transatlantic province, the emigrants from Hol- 
Dasirc the land did not, in their wilderness home, forget the country 
ortheFa- of their birth, nor her local names, her religion, her laws, 
and her freedom. When they first emigrated, they volun- 
tarily pledged themselves to submit to the government of 
the West India Company. For many years they did pa- 
tiently submit to that government ; and though experi- 

* Alb. Rec. X., 221 ; xix., 131 ; " It is customary in our Fatherland, and other well-regu- 
lated governments, that some change takes place annually in the magistracy, so that some 
new ones are appointed, and some are continued to inform the newly appointed." See 
also Meyer's " Institutions Judiciaires," iii., 47-70, 165-185; Davies, i., 76-106; O'Call., 
i., 392 ; posl p. 453. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 327 

ence had prompted many to lons^ for those franchises chap. x 
which they had enjoyed in Holland, no opportunity for in- 
troducing any political reforms had yet occurred. 

The grievance which they felt most oppressively was orgamza- 
the organization of the Council of New Netherland. This, Provin«ai 
in effect, was the director alone; for La Montagne, the cmer grie. - 
only nominal counselor, had but one vote, while Kieft re- 
served two votes to himself. It often happened, however, 
that the director found it necessary to have the assistance 
of other persons ; and on these occasions, instead of call- 
ing upon such of the colonists as were the most compe- 
tent and worthy, he invariably chose some of the inferior 
agents of the company ; " common people," who were de- 
pendent immediately upon himself for their daily emolu- 
ments. This naturally excited criticism and distrust ; 
and the discontent of the community was now officially 
expressed in a memorial to the director. The Twelve Men 
demanded that the colonial council should be reorganized, 21 January 

The 

and the number of its members increased, so that there Twelve 
should be at least five ; for, argued the popular represent- niand re- 
atives, " in the Fatherland the council of even a small 
village consists of five or seven schepens." To save " the 
land from oppression," four persons, elected by the com- 
monalty, should have seats in the colonial council. Two 
of these four counselors should annually be replaced by 
two others, to be chosen from the Twelve Men selected by 
the people. The company's " common men" should no 
longer have seats in the council. Judicial proceedings 
should be had only before a full board. The militia of the 
province should be mustered annually, and every male, 
capable of bearing arms, should be required to attend with 
a good gun ; the company to furnish each man with half 
a pound of powder for the occasion. Every freeman should 
be allowed to visit vessels arriving from abroad, " as the 
custom is in Holland." All the colonists should enjoy 
the right freely to go to and trade with the neighbor- 
ing places belonging to friends and allies, always paying 
the company's duties and imposts. To these demands, 



foeeions. 



328 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. X. coiiceived in an enlarged and liberal spirit, the Twelve 
Men added two others, dictated by a short-sighted impol- 
icy. As some kinds of cattle imported from Holland had 
fallen in value, in consequence of the sale of English stock 
within New Netherland, they asked that, in future, En- 
glish traders should be allowed to introduce oxen and poul- 
try only, and should be forbidden to sell cows or goats. 
And, to prevent the currency of the province being ex- 
ported, they solicited that its nominal value should be 
increased. 

Ki«a'8con- Kieft's jealousy was aroused by the demands of the pop- 
ular delegates ; but he saw the imprudence of refusing 
any concessions. He replied, that he had already written 
to Holland, and expected, by the fu"st ships, " some per- 
sons of quality," and " a complete council." The " com- 
mon men" had been called upon because the council was 
so small ; but the commonalty might now choose four per- 
sons " to help in maintaining justice for them." Two of 
these persons should be changed every year ; they should 
be called into council " when need required," and certain 
times in the year should also be appointed for them to as- 
semble together "upon public afl'airs," and advise upon 
specific propositions — " thus far their authority should ex- 
tend." With respect to the Twelve Men, added the di- 
rector, " I am not aware that they have received from the 
commonalty larger powers than simply to give their ad- 
vice respecting the murder of the late Claes Smits." An 
annual muster of the militia should be required ; but as 
the company was bound to provide ammunition only in 
cases of emergency, he could not furnish powder merely 
for practice. The freemen could not be allowed to visit 
vessels arriving from abroad ; it would be contrary to the 
company's instructions, and "would lead to disorder," es- 
pecially as several prizes were soon expected in port. The 
inhabitants might, however, freely trade with neighboring 
friendly colonies, upon condition of paying the company's 
recognitions, and abstaining from trade with the enemy. 
The English should be prohibited, in future, from selling 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 329 

COWS and sheep within New Netherland ; and the value chap. x. 
of the provincial currency should be raised. 

Thus ended the first attempt to ingraft upon New Neth- ^he actTon 
erland the franchises of the Fatherland. The demand of I'^^'itT" 
the commonalty was the spontaneous act of the emigrants ^^g"'"""' 
from Holland, who composed the Twelve Select Men of 
the Province. It was prompted by no desire to imitate 
any other form of government than that to which they had 
been accustomed in their Fatherland. 

But Kieft was no friend to popular reform. He had 
secured the assent of the representatives of the people to 
the hostilities which he longed to commence against the 
savages. In return, a reluctant promise of very limited 
concessions had been extorted, which, if he ever intended 
to do it, the event proved he never did fulfill. He there- Kieii dis- 

solves the 

fore determined to save himself from further embarrass- "Twelve 

1 • 1 m -HIT A • Men." 

ment by dissolvmg the Twelve Men. A proclamation was is Feb. 
presently issued, thanking them for their advice in respect 
to the war against the savages, which would be adopted, 
"with Grod's help and in fitting time;" and forbidding 
the calling of any assemblies or meetings of the people 
withont an express order of the director, as they " tend to 
dangerous consequences, and to the great injury both of 
the country and of our authority."* 

The director did not delay the execution of his cherish- March. 

,,. 1-11 111 f • Unsucccss- 

ed design, which the people had now lormally sanctioned, fui expedi- 



tion againm 



Early the next month, an expedition of eighty men wasihevvecu- 

1 • 1 1 • 1T7- 1 -1 1 quaes- 

dispatched against the Weckquaesgeeks, with orders to geeks, 
punish that tribe with fire and sword. Kieft did not head 
the forces in person, but intrusted the command to Ensign 
Hendrick van Dyck, who had now been about two years 
in garrison service at Fort Amsterdam. A guide, who pro- 
fessed a full knowledge of the country, accompanied the 
expedition, which pressed on vigorously toward the ene- 
my's village. Cro.ssing the Haerlem River, Van Dyck ar- 
rived in the evening at Armenperal,t where he halted his 

* IIol. Doc, iii., 175-180, 214, 215 ; O'Call., i., 244-249 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iv., 9. 
t This was the Sprain River, which rises back of Dobbs's Ferry, and empties into 
the Bronx.— Bolton, ii., 490, 491. 



1642. 



;}30 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. X. Command. The men were eager to push on before the 
savages should be warned of their coming. But more than 
an hour was lost by delay ; night set in dark and cloud- 
ed ; and the guide missed his way. Van Dyck, in the 
midst of embarrassment, losing his temper, ordered a re- 
treat ; and the expedition, which Kieft had dispatched to 
lay waste the wigwams of the West Chester savages, re- 
turned to Fort Amsterdam in all the mortification of fail- 
ure. 

Yet a fortunate result followed. The Indians, alarmed 
at the danger to which the trail of the white men showed 
Treaty them they had been exposed, sent to ask for peace. Van 
Week- Tienhoven, the provincial secretary, was therefore dispatch- 
at Bronx ed to Wcst Chester, and a treaty was made with the AVeck- 
quaesgeeks, on the Bronx River, at the house of the pion- 
eer colonist, Jonas Bronck. The Indians bound them- 
selves to surrender the murderer of Smits ; but they never 
fulfilled their promise.* 
Hostile The treaty with the Weckquaesgeeks had scarcely been 

the Con- coucluded bcforc rumors began to spread that the Connec- 

necticut In- t • i i i 

diuns. ticut savages were meditating a bloody vengeance against 
the European colonists. Uncas, the chief of the Mohe- 
gans, who was in high favor with the English for his as- 
sistance in exterminating the Pequods, sought to discredit 
his rival Miantonomoh, the chief of the Narragansetts ; 
and accused him of combining with the sachems on the 
Connecticut, to destroy the colonists throughout New En- 
gland. Anxiety and alarm prevailed; Hartford and New 
Haven concerted measures of defense ; and a constant vig- 
ilance was thought indispensable to the security of the 
English plantations.! 
The settle- Uudcr thcse circumstances, Captain Patrick and his 
ureenwich fricuds, who had now been established about two years at 
lUi- Dutch. G-recnwioh, determined to submit themselves to the gov- 
ernment of New Netherland. They declared that they 

* De Vries, 164 ; Journal v,in N. N. ; llol. Doc, iii., 107, 146, 166, 371 , Alb. Rec, ii., 
202 ; iii., 25 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iv., 9. 

t IIol. Doc, iii., 106, 107 ; Col. Rec. Conn., 71, 7.'? ; Wintlirop, ii.,78, 79, 80-81 ; Trum- 
bull, i., 121 ; Hutchinson, i., 108, 109 ; Hubbard's Indian Wars, 42. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 331 



1642. 



could no longer remain usurpers against the " lawful chap. x. 
rights" of the Dutch, on account " both of the strifes of ' 
the English, the danger consequent thereon, and these 
treacherous and villainous Indians, of whom we have seen 
sorrowful examples enough." Patrick, therefore, went too April. 
Fort Amsterdam, and, for himself and his associates at 
(jrreenwich, swore allegiance to the States General, the 
"West India Company, and the Dutch colonial authorities, 
upon condition of being protected against their enemies 
as nuioh as possible, and of enjoying the same privileges 
" that all patroons of New Netherland have obtained agree- 
ably to the Freedoms.-'* 

The Puritan colonists, who, in their new home in Amer- Religious 
ica, were exulting over the fall of Laud, had, meanwhile, or Massa- 
been reading a significant lesson to the world. In their 
turn, the founders of Massachusetts became persecutors ; 
and, so far from recognizing the grand principle of the 
freedom of every one's conscience, required the submission 
of all to their peculiar ecclesiastical system. " The arm 
of the civil government," says Judge Story, " was constant- 
ly employed in support of the denunciations of the Church ; 
and, without its forms, the Inquisition existed in substance, 
with a full share of its terrors and its violence."! 

A shining mark was soon offered. Among the earliest 
who followed "Winthrop to Massachusetts %vas Roger Will- Ro^er 
iams, " a young minister, godly, zealous, having many 
precious parts." Revolving the nature of intolerance, his 
capacious mind found a sole remedy for it in " the sanc- 
tity of conscience." " The civil magistrate should restrain 
crime, but never control opinion." The mind of Williams, 
however, was in advance of the spirit of his neighbors. 
His ideas of •' intellectual liberty" shocked the religious 
despotism of Massachusetts ; and the G-eneral Court sen- 1635. 
tenced him to depart out of their jurisdiction within six ^xiu^r' 
weeks, "all the ministers, save one, approving the sen- .^adm^otti. 
tence."! Flying to the South, the exile wandered through 

* Hol. Doc, ix., 204 ; O'Call., i., 252 ; Hazard, ii., 214 ; ante, p. 29fi. " Captain's Isl- 
and," on which stands the light-house ofl" Greenwich, no doubt derived its name from 
Captain Patrick. t Story's Miscellanies, 66. t Winthrop, i., 171. 



332 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



1636. 

January. 
June. 
Founds 
Provi- 
dence. 



Anne 
Hutchin- 
son. 



1637. 

August. 

November. 

Banished. 



1638. 

24 March. 

Rhode Isl- 
and found- 
ed. 

1641. 

March. 



Proposed 
cmisra- 
tions from 
Massachu- 
setts to 
New Ncth 
erland. 



6 June. 
Liberality 
of the 
Putch pro- 
vincial gov- 
ernment. 



the forests, in mid-winter, for fourteen weeks, until at last 
he found a refuge in the wigwam of the chief of Pokano- 
ket. The next summer, the father of Rhode Island laid 
the foundations of Providence ; desiring, he said, " it might 
be a shelter for persons distressed for conscience."* 

The banishment of Williams was soon followed by oth- 
er persecutions in Massachusetts. Anne Hutchinson, for 
maintaining " the paramount authority of private judg- 
ment," was denounced as " weakening the hands and 
hearts of the people toward the ministers," and as being 
" like Roger Williams, or worse." She was, therefore, ex- 
communicated, and, with several of her friends, banished, 
as "unfit for the society" of their fellow-citizens. The ex- 
iles instinctively followed the footsteps of Williams. His 
influence aided them in obtaining from the chief of the 
Narragansetts the cession of the island of Adquidnecke, 
which, from its " reddish appearance," its early Dutch 
discoverers had named the "Roode," or Red Island. A 
form of government, resting on " the principle of intellect- 
ual liberty," was soon established ; and the first Demo- 
cratic Constitution of Rhode Island nobly ordained that 
" none be accounted a delinquent for doctrine ;" and de- 
clared that " liberty of conscience was perpetuated."! 

The same spirit which had driven Williams and Hutch- 
inson from Massachusetts soon brought to Manhattan " a 
number of Englishmen" from Lynn and Ipswich, to " so- 
licit leave to settle" among the Dutch, and to treat with 
the director for a patent for lands on Long Island. Kieft 
readily agreed to grant them all the franchises which the 
charter of 1640 allowed. Upon condition of their taking 
an oath of allegiance to the States Greneral and the West 
India Company, they were to have the free exercise of re- 
ligion, a magistracy nominated by themselves and approved 
by the director, the right to erect towns, lands free of rent 
for ten years, and "an unshackled commerce, in conform- 
ity to the privileges of New Netherland."t 

* Bradford ; Winthrop, i., 171 ; Backus, i., 94 ; Bancroft, i., 300, 307, 370. 
t Hutchinson, ii., 447 ; H. 1. Records ; Bancroft, i., 388, 392, 393 ; Chalmers, 271 ; ante, 
p. 58. t Alb. Rec, ii., 122, 123, 109; O'Call., i., 237. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 333 

These "very fair terms" delighted the English appli- chap. x. 
cants. The General Court of Massachusetts, however, of- 
fended at the thought of their " strengthening the Dutch, October. 
our doubtful neighbors," and at their being willing to re- ^r'^iCGe" 
ceive from them a title for lands which the king had^"^/^""" 
granted to Lord Stirling; but, above all, at their "binding"""^"'"- 
themselves by an oath of fealty," sought to dissuade them 
from their purpose. The arguments of the court prevail- 
ed, and the discontented colonists " were convinced, and 
promised to desist."* 

Early the next year, Francis Doughty, a dissenting 1642. 
clergyman, while preaching at Cohasset, was dragged outooughTy 
of the assembly for venturing to assert that " Abraham's hL'scif to 
children should have been baptized." Accompanied by 
Richard Smith, and several other liberal-minded men, 
Doughty came to Manhattan, to secure a happy home. 
He betook himself to the protection of the Dutch, " that 
he might, in conformity with the Dutch Reformation, 
have freedom of conscience, which, contrary to his expec- 
tation, he missed in New England." Kieft received the 28 March, 
strangers kindly, and immediately granted to Doughty Mespath.or 
and his associates " an absolute ground-brief" for more 
than thirteen thousand acres of land at Mespath, or New- 
town, on Long Island. The patent guaranteed to them 
the freedom of religion, and all the political franchises 
which had before been offered to the people of Lynn and 
Ipswich, " according to the immunities granted and to be 
granted to the colonists of this province, without any ex- 
ception."! 

In the autumn of the same year, John Throgmorton, John 
whom Hugh Peters had judged "worthy of the same per- ton andhis 
secution that drove Williams to Providence," came to Man- tie tuem- 
hattan to solicit a residence under the iurisdiction of the Throg-s 

Neck. 

States General. Kieft readily listened to Throgmorton's 2 October, 
request ; and granted him permission to settle himself, 
" with thirty-five English families," within twelve miles 

* Winthrop, ii., 34. 

t Vertoosli van N. N., in ii., N. Y. H. S. Coll., ii.,301, 333 ; Lechford,4n, 41 ; Alb. Roc. 
G. G., 49 ; O'Call., i., 425 ; Thompson, L. I., ii., 70 ; Riker'a Newtown, 17, 413. 



334 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. X. of Fort Amsterdam, " to reside there in peace, and enjoy 
the same privileges as our other subjects, and be favored 
■ with the free exercise of their relisrion."* The refugees 
selected for their home the lands on the East River, now 
known as West Chester, which the Dutch appropriately 
vrcdeiand. named "Vredeland," or the "Land of Peace;" and the 
next summer, Throgmorton obtained a patent for a por- 
tion of the territory where he and his companions had 
found an asylum.t 
Anne Evcu Rhodc Island seemed hardly as desirable an abode 

son re- as Ncw Nctherlaud. Becoming dissatisfied with her first 
New Neth- retreat, and fearing that the implacable vengeance of Mas- 
sachusetts would reach her even there, the widowed Anne 
Hutchinson, in the summer of 1642, removed, with Col- 
lins, her son-in-law — " a young scholar full of zeal" — and 
all her family, beyond New Haven, into the Dutch terri- 
tory, and chose for her residence the point now known as 
Pelham Neck, near New Rochelle, a few miles eastward 
Settlement of Tlirogmortou's Settlement. The spot was soon called 
iroeck." " Annie's Hoeck ;" and a small stream, which separates it 
from the town of East Chester, still preserves in its name, 
" Hutchinson's River," the memory of the remarkable 
woman who there found her last honie.1: 
Motives to These large emigrations to New Nethcrland, where five 
Imisra-^ Euglisli colonics wcrc soon established, did not fail to at- 
New En!^ tract thc notice of the Puritan authorities. The " unset- 
^ *" ' tied frame of spirit" of many was attributed to the sudden 
fall of land and cattle, and the scarcity of foreign commod- 
ities ; and there was " much disputation" in Massachusetts 
" about liberty of removing for outward advantages."^ 
There were doubtless some who emigrated merely to en- 
large their estates. But there were many others, whose 
only motive for the change was the religious intolerance 

* Alb. Rcc., ii., 185. 

t Alb. Rec. G. G., 98, 173, 174 ; Winlhrop, i., 42 ; nutchinson, i., 371 ; Benson's Mem- 
oir, 121 ; Bolton'.s West Chester, ii., 14,'), 146, 152. Thc point now known as " Throg's 
Neck" was comprehended within this grant, and, no doubt, derives its name from Throg- 
morton. 

i Wmthrop, ii., 8, 39, 136 ; Noal, i., 178 ; Hutchinson, i., 72, 73 ; Bolton, i., 514, 515. 

« Winthrop, ii., 85, 87 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iv., 6. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 335 

of their own countrymen. They left New England to seek, chap. x. 
in New Netherland, " freedom to worship God." 

Besides the numerous strangers whose " insupportable ^^^ ^^j^" 
government" drove them to seek permanent homes in the gfrMgers 
Dutch Province, there flocked from Virginia and New En-f^j^^.^^''^'" 
gland many fugitive servants, "who too often carry their ^{.ggg-y"' 
passports with them under the soles of their shoes." 
Their conduct at Manhattan was soon found to occasion 
mischief and complaint. Kieft, therefore, issued a proc- n April. 
lamation forbidding the inhabitants to harbor any stran- resuia- 
gers, or give them more than one meal or a single night's 
lodging, without notifying the director, and furnishing him 
with the names of the new-comers.* 

The constant intercourse at this time between New 
England and Virginia brought many transient visitors to 
Manhattan. On their way to and from Long Island Sound 
and Sandy Hook, the coasting vessels always stopped at 
Fort Amsterdam ; and the increasing number of his guests 
occasioned great inconvenience to the director, who fre- 
quently could afford them but " slender entertainment." 
Kieft, therefore, built " a fine hotel of stone" at the com- Kieft 
pany's expense, where travellers "might now go and stone hot ei 
lodge." This hotel, or "Harberg," was conveniently sit-iers. 
uated on the river side, a little east of Fort Amsterdam, 
near what is at present known as " Cocnties Slip."t 

The old church had now become dilapidated ; and De a new 
Vries, dining with Kieft, told him it was a shame that theposej. 
English, when they visited Manhattan, "saw only a mean 
barn in which we preached." " The first thing they built 
in New England, after their dwelling-houses, was a fine 
church ; we should do the like," urged De Vries ; " we 
have fine oak wood, good mountain stone, and excellent 
lime, which we burn from oyster-shells — much better than 
our lime in Holland." "Who shall oversee the work?" 
asked Kieft, whose anxiety " to leave a great name after 
him" was the more earnest, as a church was then in 

* Journal van N. N., in IIol. Doc, iii., 98 ; Doc. Ilist. N. Y., iv., 6 ; Alb. Rec, il., 161. 
t De Vries, 163 ; Winllirop, ii., 96 ; Moulton's New Orange, 21. 



336 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



1642. 



Chap. X. Contemplation at Rensselaerswyck. " There are friends 
enough of the Reformed religion," answered J)e Vries, 
who immediately subscribed one hundred guilders, upon 
condition that the director should head the list. Jochem 
Pietersen Kuyter, " a devout professor of the Reformed re- 
ligion," and Jan Jansen Dam, who lived " close by the 
Church fort," were immediately appointed, with De Vries and 

masters ap- . 

pointed. Kieft, church masters to supermtend the building ; toward 
the cost of which the director agreed to advance " some 
thousand guilders" on the company's account. For great- 
er security "against all sudden attacks of the Indians," 
the church was ordered to be erected within the fort. 
This decision, however, was not satisfactory ; for as it 
was to be built chiefly by public subscription, the people 
thought that it should be placed where it would be gen- 
erally convenient. Besides, the fort was small enough 
already, and a church within it would be "a fifth wheel 
to a wagon." It would intercept, too, the southeast wind, 
and prevent the working of the grist-mill hard by. But 
Kieft insisted, and all objections were overruled.* 

It only remained to secure the necessary subscriptions. 
Fortunately, it happened that the daughter of Domine Bo- 
gardus was married just then ; and Kieft thought the wed- 
ding-feast a good opportunity to excite the generosity of 

subscrip- the guests. So, " after the fourth or fifth round of driuk- 

tions Qb- . '^ 

tained. iiig," he showed a liberal example himself, and let the 
other wedding guests subscribe what they would toward 
the church fund. All the company, with light heads and 
glad hearts, vied with each other in " subscribing richly." 
Some of them, when they went home, "well repented it;" 
but " nothing availed to excuse."! 

Mmy. A contract was made with John and Richard Ogden, of 

Stamford, for the mason-work of a stone church seventy- 
two feet long, fifty wide, and sixteen high, at a cost of 
twenty-five hundred guilders, and a gratuity of one hund- 
red more if the work should be satisfactory. The walls 

* De Vries, 164 ; Vcrtoogh van N. N., 293. 

t Vertoogh van N. N., in ii., N. Y. H. S. Coll., ii., 293. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 3;^7 

were soon built ; and the roof was raised and covered by chap. x 
English carpenters with oak shingles, which, by exposure ] 

to the weather, soon " looked like slate." The honor and church in 
the ownership of the work were both commemorated by a f,erdf,r 
square stone inserted in the front wall, bearing the am- 
biguous inscription, "Anno Domini, 1642, "William Kieft, 
Director General, hath the Commonalty caused to build 
this Temple."* 

The Provincial government before long felt some in- 
convenience from "the large number of Englishmen" who 
daily came to reside in New Netherland. Though Kieft 
himself was "roughly acquainted with the English lan- 
guage," his subordinate officers were not; and the En- 
glish strangers knowing the language of the province as 
little as the Dutch did of that of the new-comers, it was 

1 1 Dec 

found necessary to have an official interpreter. One of OMPge 
the exiles from New England, G-eorge Baxter, was ac- pointed En- 

iilisii sGcrf- 

cordingly appointed " English secretary," at an annual sal- tary. 
ary of two hundred and fifty guilders.! 

The party which Lamberton had sent, the previous Affairs on 
summer, from New Haven to the South River, having, in River, 
violation of their pledge, established themselves upon 
Dutch territory, "without any commission of a potentate," 
Kieft, on finding how he had been cajoled, determined 
" to drive these English thence in the best manner possi- 
ble." The yachts Real and Saint Martin were therefore 22 May. 
dispatched to Jansen, the commissary at Fort Nassau, tion*'diT- ' 
who was instructed to visit the intruders, and " compel from Man- 
them to depart directly in peace." Their personal prop- 

* Alb. llec, iii., 31 ; IIoI. Doc, iv. ; ii., N. Y. II. S. Col!., i., 382 ; ii., 293 ; O'Call., i., 
2<52 ; Breedeu Raedt, 22. It appears, from the Urcedon Raedt, that the church was not 
inclosed until 1G43. When the fort was demolished in 1790, to make way for the Gov- 
ernment House, which was built on the site of what is now the " Bowling Green." the 
stone with the inscription was found among the rubliish. The following paragraph from 
the "A'«« York Magazine'' for 1790, records the circumstance: "June 23. On Monday 
last, in digging away the foundation of the fort in this city, a square stone was found 
among the ruins of a chapel (which formerly stood in the fort), with the following Dutch 
inscription on it: ' Ao. Do. MDCXLII. W. Kieft Dr. Or. Ilecft de Gemeenten dese Tem- 
l pel doen Bouwen.' " This stone was removed to the belfry of the Reformed Dutch church 
in Garden Street, where it remained until both were destroyed in the great fire of Decem- 
ber, 1835.— ii., N. V. H. S. Coll., ii., 328; Benson's Mem., 103; Doc. Hist. N.V., iii, 402 

t Alb. Rec, ii., 202. 

Y 



338 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. X. ei'ty was not to be injured ; but the commissary was to 
"remain master," and, above all, "maintain the reputa- 
'^" tion of their High Mightinesses, and the noble directors 
of the West India Company." 

The En- Jauseu cxecuted his orders promptly. The settlement 

glish settle- ini ii-ii ii i'' 

inents on the bchuylkill was broken up at once. That on the 

broken up. ,t , i Tr-ii ci i m i • • i 

Varkens kill, or balem breek, was next visited, and, with 
the hearty co-operation of the Swedes, who had agreed 
with Kieft " to keep out the English," the intruders were 
expelled. The trespassers were conveyed to Fort Amster- 
28 August, dam, and from there sent back to New Haven. Lam- 
.ompeiied bcrtou, liowevcr, persisting in trading at the South River, 
at Manhat- was soon afterward arrested at Manhattan, on his return to 
New Haven, and compelled to give an account of his pel- 
tries, and pay duties on his cargo. The New Haven peo- 
ple protested, and threatened retaliation. But Kieft fur- 
nished the Dutch who had occasion to visit the " Red 
Hills" with passports, in which he boldly avowed his own 
responsibility for all that had happened. The damages 
which the English sustained at the South River were es- 
timated at one thousand pounds ; but though they com- 
plained bitterly, they never obtained redress.* 
DiiEcuuies The dilficulties between the Dutch garrison at the Hope 
and the English at Hartford continued unabated. Eve- 
ry vexation that ingenuity could contrive was practiced 
against the Hollanders, who, on the other hand, were 
charged with enticing away and sheltering the servants 
of the English colonists ; with helping prisoners in jail to 
escape ; and with purchasing and retaining goods stolen 
■.i April, from the English. Under these circumstances, Kieft, find- 

Kicfl for- .11. crj'iii 

bids inter- ing that liis protcsts wcrc oi no etiect, had recourse to re- 
nartford. taliatory measures ; and all trade and commercial inter- 
course with the Hartford people, in the neighborhood of 
the Dutch post, was formally prohibited. t 

* Alb. Rec, ii., 1G2, 104, 177, 185 ; Acrelius ; i., N. Y. H. S. Coll., i., 413 ; ii., 261 ; 
O'Call., i., 254; Hazard, ii., 1G4, 214; S. Hazard, Ann. Penn., 61, 62; Ferris, 59, 60; 
Trumbull, i., 122, 123. 

t Alb. Rec, ii., 157, 158 ; Hazard, iL, 216, 265 ; i., N. Y. H. S. Coll., 276 ; Trumbull, 
i., 122. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 339 

It was not long before the Hartford authorities felt the chap. x. 
inconvenience of their position. The General Court, there- 
fore, ordered that the magistrates "shall have liberty tojj^jj^y"" 
agitate the business betwixt us and the Dutch, and, if 
they think meet, to treat with the governor concerning 
the same."* Under this authority, Whiting, a magistrate, Delegation 
and Hill, a deputy of Hartford, came to Manhattan, to ar- fo^JTvis^its' 
range with the director for the purchase of the West In- ju^-. * 
dia Company's lands around the Hope. Kieft, after ex-9Juiy. 
plaining in detail the antiquity of the Dutch title, offered 
to lease "the field at Hartford" to the English, for an an- 
nual rent of a tenth part of the produce, as long as they 
should occupy it. The delegates, on their return, sub- The Dutch 
mitted these conditions to the (General Court. But notions, 
abatement of annoyance followed. The coveted field was 
again despitefully plowed up by the Hartford people, who 
even prevented " cattle that belonged not to them" from 
being driven toward New Netherland.t 

There was a strong, though not, perhaps, an honorable 
motive for this system of petty annoyance. Hopkins had 
now returned from London, bringing with him Boswell's 
letter to Wright. The recommendation of the British min- Poucy and 
ister at the Hague, "Crowd on — crowd the Dutch out," the iiart- 
was now to be the system by which New Netherland was, ""^ ^^° 
by degrees, to be dismembered of her territory, and grad- 
ually separated from Holland. The General Court direct- 29 Sept. 
ed that " a letter be returned to the Dutch, in answer to 
their letter brought by Mr. Whiting ;" and also that let- 
ters should be written to Dudley and Bcllingham, the for- 
mer governors of Massachusetts, " concerning what the 
Dutch governor reporteth that they have wrote to him 
about our differences." Dudley, in 1640, had written to 
Kieft in conciliatory terms ; and Bellingham, the next 
year, had advised moderation on both sides ;$ but the Hart- 
ford authorities now seemed apprehensive that Massachu- 

* Col. Rec. Conn., 72. 

t Hazard, ii., 265 ; i., N. Y. H. S. Coll., 2TC ; Col. Rec. Conn., 72 ; Alb. Roc, ii., 171, 
172; Smith, Hist. N. Y., i., 6. 
t Win'hrop, ii., 7, 32 ; Col. Rec. Conn., 75, 566 ; ante, p. 299, 322. 



1642. 

Puritan 



540 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

(HAP. X. setts had committed herself to more liberal views than 
those which suited the policy of Connecticut. 

The agents in England, in the mean time, had not been 
hfrfiliand" unsucccssful. Thougli Petcrs failed in his undertaking to 
" pacify" the Dutch "West India Company, the New En- 
gland delegates, acting on Boswell's advice, succeeded in 
inducing "persons of quality" to communicate with the 
representative of the States General at London. Lord 
Say, as one of Lord Warwick's original grantees, was 
23 July, warmly interested ; and, in the course of the summer, he 
addressed a letter to Joachimi, the Netherlands' ambassa- 
dor, in which he strenuously advocated the cause of the 
Connecticut colonists, and severely censured the Dutch. 
TordSay's They, hc said, had protested and threatened, and used 
Dutch am- " hauglity argumcuts" against the English ; yet, though 
there were only five or six Netherlanders residing on the 
river, "where there are more than two thousand English," 
no violent proceedings had been taken against the Dutch, 
who, it was asserted, had been treated "with all civility." 
The Pequod Indians, of whom the Hollanders claimed to 
have purchased a portion of the land, "had no other than a 
usurped title." The " weakness" of the Dutch title was 
inferred, because " the English having addressed sundry 
letters to their governor, William Kioft," he had refused 
to accept their proposal to refer the settlement of the ques- 
tion to impartial arbitrators. The Dutch should be or- 
dered to demean themselves peaceably, and be content 
with their own limits, " or to leave the river." This last 
suggestion would " tend most to their master's j)rofit," as 
the returns from their post never had, and never would re- 
pay expenses. " Moreover," added Lord Say, " they live 
there in an ungodly way, in no wise beseeming the Gos- 
pel of Christ. Their residence there will never produce 
any other effect than expense to their masters and trouble 
Threats to the English." Other influential persons in London, 
r^ft'ch.^^ "^ moved by the representations of the New England agents, 
openly threatened that, before the end of the year, the 
Hollanders should be utterly expelled from the valley of 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 341 

the Connecticut. Joachimi therefore sent Lord Say's com- chap. x. 
rnunication to the States General; and, in subsequent 
dispatches, explained the irritated feeling which existed 3, j„,y ' 
among the friends of the Puritan colonists, and urged the ^y'^sept!" 
king should be asked to command his New England sub- ^^ October, 
jects not to molest the Dutch, who had possession of New 
Nether land before the English ever came there. " For 
such commands must proceed from his majesty ; and it 
might be taken ill that redress should be sought from the 
House of Parliament, whose orders would probably not be 
received in those far-distant quarters." The Dutch am- 
bassador at London, however, little knew the temper of 
the men of New England. 

Charles set up his standard at Nottingham, and the 22 August. 
civil war began. Parliament was supreme at London, of fhe"lvi 
but the king was still sovereign in the rural districts. 
The sympathies of the Puritan colonists in America were 
with the Puritan House of Commons. The States Gen- 
eral promptly referred Joachimi's dispatches to the West 25 October. 
India Company ; but though the ambassador was instruct- 
ed to represent that it need not be apprehended that his 
countrymen in New Netherland could ever " prevail" 
against their stronger neighbors, the throats of the Lon- 
don friends of New England were entirely disregarded at 
the Hague.* The distracted kingdom caused no present 
anxiety to foreign powers. 

Interesting events were now occurring at Rensselaers- 1(341. 
wyck. Adriaen van der Donck, of Breda, in North Bra- A'''"iaen 

•' ' ' van (Icr 

bant, a man of intelligence and learning, having taken a ^Xumi- 
lease from the patroon of the westerly half of Castle Isl- '^1:°^^. 
and, known as " Welysburg," adjoining the fertile farm'"'"''*^^-'''- 
of Brandt Peelen, was appointed schout-fiscal of the colo- 
nic, and arrived at Manhattan in the autumn of 1641. 
As the colonists had shown a disposition " to pass by the 
carpenters and other of the patroon's laborers," and to 
employ whom they pleased. Van der Donck was specially 
instructed to repress this spirit of independence, and pros- is juiy 

* IIol. Doc, ii., 276-307 ; O'Call., i., 255-257 ; Aitzema, ii., 932 ; Lingard, x., 152. 



342 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



Chap. X. 



1642. 



6 March. 
Johannes 
ftlegapolen- 
sis the first 
clergyman 
in the colo- 
nic. 



18 March 



22 March. 



ecute the offenders before the colonial court. He was also 
charged to procure the enactment of " stricter statutes or 
ordinances, and to punish the delinquents by penalties and 
fines, according to law.'"* 

The want of a permanent clergyman, and the need of 
a proper church edifice, had now for some time been 
felt in the colonic ; and, early the next year, the patroon 
took measures to place his colonists in as good a condi- 
tion in these respects as the inhabitants of Manhattan. 
He therefore made an agreement with the Reverend 
Doctor Johannes Megapolensis, a learned clergyman be- 
longing to the Classis of Alckmaer, to send him out to 
Rensselaerswyck, " for the edifying improvement of the 
inhabitants and Indians." The patroon bound himself to 
convey the Domine and his family to New Netherland free 
of expense, provide him with a proper residence, and assure 
him, for six years, an annual salary of one thousand ginld- 
ers, with a promise of an addition of two hundred guilders 
annually for the three following years, " should the patroon 
be satisfied with his service." On the other hand, Megapo- 
lensis agreed " to befriend and serve the patroon in all things 
wherein he could do so without interfering with or imped- 
ing his duties." As the Classis of Amsterdam was the ec- 
clesiastical superior of all the Dutch colonial clergy, it was 
necessary to obtain its assent to the arrangement ; and 
the Domine accordingly appeared before the committee 
of that body, " ad res exteras," and explained his views 
in wishing to settle himself in New Netherland. A few 
days afterward, the classis attested a formal " call" for 
Megapolensis to preach the Gospel and govern the Church 
at Rensselaerswyck, "in conformity with the Govern- 
ment, Confession, and Catechism of the Netherland 
churches, and the Synodal acts of Dordrecht." The Am- 
sterdam Chamber, however, as the political su})crior of 
New Netherland, claimed the right of approving this in- 
strument. The patroon, on the other hand, at first de- 
murred to what he thought a curtailment of his feudal 

* Renss. MSS. ; O'Call., i., 327, 328. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 343 

rights ; but, after several months' delay, he agreed that chap. x. 
the directors should aflix their act of approbation, under 
protest that the rights of both parties should remain un- jij^pgnap. 
prejudiced. The Amsterdam Chamber accordingly ap- {h°'^*^^!',^r. 
proved the call. Domine Megapolensis was furnished fj^™^**''"'' 
with a detailed memorandum, respecting the settlement ® "'""*■ 
of the colonists, and the arrangement of the new church 
and parsonage ; a plan for all the buildings was provided ; 
and a small theological library was supplied at the pa- 
troon's expense. The transportation of the colonists to 
Fort Orange was to be arranged under the advice of Kieft, 
to whom the patroon sent a present of a saddle and mili- 
tary equipments, " as the noble director hath heretofore 
had much trouble with my people and goods." A num- 
ber of respectable emigrants embarked with Megapolensis Arrives at 

1 1 • p -1 • 1 1 • TT 1-1 r Manhattan. 

and his lamily m the ship Houttuyn, which, after a pros- 
perous voyage, arrived in August. 

' At this period it was not uncommon for ships to lie a The new- 
fortnight at Manhattan before intelligence of their arrival at Rensse- 
was received at Rensselaerswyck. Prompt measures, how- 
ever, were taken to convey up the river the new emi- 
grants, who, upon reaching their destination, were re g- 11 August 
istered by Arendt van Curler, the commissary. To con- 
centrate the inhabitants as much as possible, and thus 
avoid danger of their lives from the Indians, "as sorrow- 
ful experience hath demonstrated around Manhattan," the 
patroon required that all the colonists, except the farmers 
and tobacco-planters, should live near each other, so as to 
form a " Kerck-buurte," or church neighborhood. This 
was to be settled near the Beaver's Creek ; where a ferry 
was at once established for the accommodation of the col- 
onists across the river at Clreenbush. The patroon's di- 
rections were followed, and Van Curler notified all the col- 
onists to " regulate themselves accordingly." 

The church, however, was not built* until the following 
year ; but the houses which were to surround it were 
planned ; the dwelling of Maryn Adriaensen, one of the 
colonists who was about to remove to Manhattan, was 



344 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

(JHAP. X. bought for a parsonage ; and the first clergyman at Rens- 

selaerswyck began to execute the duties of his holy office. 

w , ■ The colonists revered and esteemed their faithful monitor, 

Megapolen- ' 

hisderi'cai "^vliose influence was soon exerted in restraining immoral- 
labors. ities, wliicli the license of a frontier life had hitherto al- 
lowed to pass unrebuked. The counsels of the Domine 
were received with respect by Commissary Van Curler, 
who always asked his opinion upon public affairs before 
he " concluded to undertake any thing."* 

Soon after the arrival of Domine Mcgapolensis at Rens- 
selaerswyck, an occasion arose to test the characteristic 
Progress of bencvolencc of the Dutch. Champlain had early planned 
in Canada, tlic schcmc of extending the empire of France over North 
America, by means of religious missions ; and his saga- 
cious conception was zealously seconded by the heroic and 
self-denying emissaries of the Church. Just before the 
1635. Father of New France was buried upon the field of his 
noble toils, and a year before Massachusetts made provi- 
sion for what afterward became Harvard University, a mis- 
sionary college was founded at Quebec. A few years aft- 
1641. erward, the festival of the Assumption was solemnly cel- 
ls August, eljj-ated on the island of Montreal, before vast crowds of 
savages and Frenchmen. " There," said Father Le Jeune, 
" shall the Mohawk and the feebler Algonquin make their 
home ; the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and a little 
child shall lead them." 

From the time Champlain first penetrated the valley of 
Views of Onondaga in 1615, the French had seen the advantage of 
possessing a post on the territory of Western New York. 
The settlements of the Dutch were as yet confined to the 
valleys of the Mohawk and of the North River. The 
views of the French in Canada did not, however, conflict 
with those of the Hollanders in New Netherland. France 
desired to control the great West ; Holland looked more to 
the possession of the sea-coast. " Could we but gain the 
mastery," argued the missionaries of Canada, " of the 
shore of Ontario, on the side nearest the abode of the Iro- 

* Corr. Classis Amst. ; Reiis8. MSS. ; O'Call., i., 326-330, 448-1C3. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. IM', 

quois, we could ascend by the Saint Lawrence without < hai \ 
danger, and pass free beyond Niagara." ; 

But the hereditary enmity between the Iroquois Con- 
federates and the Hurons and Algonquins of Canada 
thwarted the plans of the French missionaries. The nav- 
igation of Lake Ontario was closed against their enter- 
prise ; and a French canoe had never yet been launched 
upon Lake Erie. The Dutch traders at Rensselaerswyck 
had now supplied the Iroquois warriors with the fire-arms 
of Europe ; and the proud Konoshioni burned to be su- 
preme. In the autumn of 1641, two Jesuit Fathers, septfinher. 
Charles Raymbault and Isaac Jogues, pushing onward 
from the Huron mission station, coasted, in their birch- 
bark canoe, along the Manitoulin Islands, and, stemming 
the swift current of the Saint Mary's, reached the Sault, 4 ocioi.cr 
where they found two thousand Cliippewas assembled, 
expecting their arrival. Returning to Quebec, Jogues 
prepared, the next year, to repeat his visit. But as he 10 l*-2. 
was ascending the Saint Lawrence with an escort of Hu- capiSreo- 
rons, the party was surprised by a band of Mohawks ly- jo^gurs. 
ing in ambuscade. A part of the expedition was captur- 
ed ; and Jogues and his fellow-prisoners were conducted 
through the country of the Iroquois to the valley of the is August. 
Mohawk. Horrible savage cruelties were inflicted upon 
the captives. From village to village their tortures were 
renewed ; but the faithful missionaries, as they ran the 
gauntlet, consoled themselves with visions of heavenly 
glory. 

Intelligence that three Frenchmen were prisoners among tiu- diu. i, 
the Iroquois soon reached Fort Orange ; and, prompted by anee ai- 
a noble humanity. Commissary Van Curler, in company ransom" 
with Labbatie and Jansen, two of the colonists, went on 
horseback to the Mohawk country to attempt their rescue. 
The Dutch visitors were received with " great joy," and 
the presents which they brought were thankfully accept- 
ed by the warriors at the three castles. Before each cas- 
tle they were obliged to halt a quarter of an hour, until 
the Mohawks had saluted them " with divers musket- 



;}4G HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. X. shots." Indians were sent out to shoot, and brought them 
in excellent turkeys. On the eve of the Nativity of the Vir- 
7 Sept ' g^^' ^an Curler reached the village where Jogues was de- 
among"thf taiucd. Inviting the chiefs to assemble together, he press- 
Mohawks. ^^ them to release the French prisoners, " one of whom 
was a Jesuit, a very learned scholar." But the Mohawk 
sachems refused. "We shall show you every friendship 
in our power," said the chiefs, " but on this subject we 
shall be silent." Days were spent in vain attempts to 
procure the release of the captives : six hundred guilders 
worth of goods, " to which all the colony would contrib- 
ute," were offered as their ransom, and inexorably re- 
fused. In the end. Van Curler " persuaded them so far, 
that they promised not to kill them, and to convey them 
back to their country." As the party set out on their re- 
turn to Fort Orange, the French captives ran after them, 
beseeching the Dutch to rescue them out of the hands of 
the barbarians. An escort of ten or twelve armed savages 
conducted the embassy home, through " the most beauti- 
ful land on the Mohawk River that eye ever saw." But 
the Hollanders had scarcely left, before the " clamorous 
braves" insisted upon blood ; and Rene Goupil, a "donne," 
19 Sept. or novice, who had accompanied Jogues, was struck dead 
with a tomahawk, invoking the name of Jesus as he fell. 
.fogucs' life The life of the Father was, however, spared. Carving the 
emblem of his faith upon a majestic tree, the devoted Jes- 
uit, during the following winter, held lonely communion 
with his Grod. For a time he was unmolested ; but the 
Mohawks at length finding him at prayer, " attacked him 
most violently, saying that they hated the cross ; that it 
was a sign unknown to them and their friends, the neigh- 
boring Europeans" at Fort Orange.* 
1643. In the annals of New Netherland, 1643 was, emphat- 
ically, " the year of blood." While New England was 
filled with alarm at the suspicion of a general rising of 

* Relation, lfilO-41, 50, 211 ; 1647, 5G, 111 ; Jogues's Letter.s of the ."ith and SOth of Au- 
gust, 1643, in ii., N. Y. II. S. Coll., iii. ; Tanner's " Societas Jesu," <fcc., 510-531 ; Megap., 
in Hazard, i., 522; De Vrics, 157 ; Creuxius, 338; Charlevoix, i., 234-250; Ronss. MSS., 
O'Call., i., 463, 464 ; Bancroft, iii., 122-134 ; Warburton's Conijuest of Canada, i., 101, 356. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 347 

the Indians, and benighted travellers could not halloo in chap. x 
the woods without causing fear that savages were tor- 
turing their European captives, the neighboring Dutch p^rcbod^ 
province partook of the universal panic. Miantonomoh, general" 
" the great sachem of Sloup's Bay," was reported to have ^"srv-'' 
come with one hundred men to the neighborhood of Grreen- Jfnuary 
wich, and to have passed through all the villages of the 
Indians, soliciting them to a general war against the En- 
glish and the Dutch. The wildest stories were circulated 
among the fireside gossips at Manhattan. The outlaying 
Indians were accused of setting fire to the powder of the 
Dutch, wherever they could find it, and of attempting to 
poison and bewitch the director.* Anxiety and terror al- 
ready pervaded the defenseless hamlets around Fort Am- 
sterdam, when an event occurred which precipitated open 
hostilities, and nearly annihilated the rising hopes of the 
West India Company. 

De Vries, while rambling, gun on shoulder, toward Van 
der Horst's new colony at Hackinsack, which was "but 
an hour's walk" from Vriesendael, met an Indian " who 
was very drunk." Coming up to the patroon, he " stroked 
him over the arms" in token of friendship. " You are a 
good chief," said the Indian ; " when we visit you, you 
give us milk to drink, for nothing. But I have just come 
from Hackinsack, where they sold me brandy, half mixed 
with water, and then stole my beaver-skin coat." The a. dui. i.- 
savage vowed a bloody revenge. He would go home for doVed by"^;!!! 
his bow and arrows, and then shoot one of the " roguish ii'ar'k in-' 
Swannekens" who had stolen his things. De Vries en- 
deavored to soothe him ; and, on reaching Hackinsack, 
warned Van der Horst's people against the danger of treat- 
ing the wild natives as they had the one he had just met. 
Scarcely had he returned to his own house, before some 
of the chiefs of the Hackinsacks and of the Reckawancks, 
in his neighborhood, came to Vriesendael. The revenge- 
ful savage had kept his vow. Watching his opportunity, 
he had shot one of the Dutch colonists, Garret Jansen van 

* Winthrop, ii., 84 ; Hoi. Doc, iii., 107 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iv., 9. 



348 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. X. Voorst, as lie was quietly thatching the roof of one of Van 
"~~~ der Horst's houses. The chiefs had hastened to seek coun- 
sel of De Vries. They dared not go to Fort Amsterdam, 
for fear Kieffc would keep them prisoners ; but they were 
willing to pay two hundred fathoms of wampum to the 
widow of the murdered man, " and that should purchase 
Thesav- their peace."* They oflered the full expiation which In- 

aees offer a .' . *' '■ 

blood dian iustice demanded — a blood-atonement of money; and 

atonement. •' _ •' ' 

the custom, so universal among the red men of America, 
was in singular accordance with the usage of classic 
Greece.! 

At length, persuaded by De Vries, who answered for 
their safe return, the chiefs accompanied him to Fort Am- 
sterdam. Explaining to Kieft the unhappy occurrence at 
Hackinsack, they repeated their offer of a "just atone- 

Kiefi de- ment." The director inexorably demanded the murderer. 

murderer. Imitating the example of Massachusetts in the case of 
the Pequods, he would be content with nothing but blood. 
But the chiefs could not bind themselves to surrender the 
criminal. He had gone " two days' journey off, among 
the Tankitekes ;" and, besides, he was the son of a chief 
Again they proposed an expiatory offering of wampum to 
appease the widow's grief. " Why do you sell brandy to 
our young men?" said the chiefs. " They are not used 
to it — it makes them crazy. Even your own people, who 
are accustomed to strong liquors, sometimes become drunk, 
and fight with knives. Sell no more strong drink to the 
Indians, if you would avoid mischief." With this, they 
took leave of the director, and returned to Vriesendael ; 
and Kieft soon afterward sent a peremptory message to 
Pacham, the crafty chief of the Tankitekes, to surrender 
the refugee.1: 

But before Pacham obeyed the mandate, more serious 

* De Vries, 160 ; IIol. Doc, iii., 107 ; Breeden Raedt, 16 ; Dancroft, ii., 2fi9. 

t " If a brother bleed. 

On just atonement we remit the deed ; 
A sire the slaughter of his son forgives, 
The price of blood discharged, the murderer lives." 

Pope, Iliad, ix. 

J Do Vries, 106 ; IIol. Doc, iii., 108 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iv., 10 ; .Ub. Rec, ii., 212. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 349 

events occurred. In the depth of winter, a party of eighty chap. v 
or ninety Mohawk warriors, " each with a musket on his 
shoulder," came down from the neighborhood of Fort Or- pebrusrv 
ange, to collect tribute from the Weckquaesgeeks and if]^^,^'".;,. 
Tappans. The river tribes quailed before the formidable Riv''er*i*M- 
Iroquois. No resistance was offered by the more numer- **'""'' 
ous but subjugated Algonquins ; seventy of whom were 
killed, and many women and children made prisoners. 
Half-famished parties fled from West Chester to Manhat- The iribu- 
tan, where they were kindly entertained. In their despair, aeos seek 
four or five hundred of the cowering tributaries flocked to vriesen- 

. 5^ dael, Pav(v 

Vnesendael, to beg assistance and protection. The pa- n>a. and 

\ ■, £, •^ Manhattan. 

troon told them, however, that the Fort Orange Indians 
were " friends of the Dutch," who could not interfere in 
their wars. Finding his house full of savages, and only 
five men besides himself to defend it, De Vries went, in a 
canoe, through the floating ice, down to Fort Amster- 
dam, to ask Kieft to assist him with some soldiers. The 
director, however, had none to spare. The next day, 21 Feb. 
•' troops of savages," who had come down from Vriesen- 
dael, encamped near the "oyster banks" at Pavonia, 
among the Hackinsacks, who were " full a thousand 
strong." Some of them, crossing the river to Manhattan, 
took refuge at " Corlaer's Bouwery," where a few Rocka- 
way Indians from Long Island, with their chief, Nainde 
Nummerus, had already built their wigwams.* 

In this conjuncture, public opinion at Manhattan wasPubucopin- 
divided in regard to the policy to be observed toward thehattan. 
savages. Now that they were fugitives from the dreaded 
Iroquois, and felt grateful for the temporary protection 
which they had received from the Dutch, the river In- 
dians could easily be won to a sincere friendship, thought 
De Vries and a majority of the community. But there 
were other spirits — active, unquiet, panting for war, who, 
though few, were aided by the influence of Van Tienhoven, 
the astute provincial secretary. Aft Kieft was dining, at 
Shrovetide, at the house of Jan Jansen Dam, one of the 22 Feb 

♦ De Vries, 177, 178; Ilol. Doc, ii., 375; iii., 109; Breeden Raedt, 15. 



350 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. X " Twelve Men," the host, with Adriaensen and Planck, two 
of his former colleagues, assuming to speak in the name of 
Petition for ^^^^ commoualty, presented a petition to the director, urg- 
nlcrthe '^^ i^^o instant hostilities against the unsuspecting savages. 
presfnTed ^^^ Tieuhoven, who had drafted the petition, well knew 
rector.'^' tlic temper of his chief. The Indians, it was argued, had 
not yet made any atonement for their murders, nor had 
the assassins of Smits and Van Voorst been delivered up. 
While innocent blood was unavenged, the national char- 
acter of the Dutch must suffer. God had now delivered 
their enemies into their hands ; " We pray you," urged 
the petitioners, " let us attack them ; to this end we offer 
our persons, and we propose that a party of freemen and 
another of soldiers be dispatched against them at different 



pi 



aces 



»* 



Kica re- The sanguinary director was delighted with the pros- 

solveson ° , -^ . ■ r ,, i i 

war. pect of war ; and, "m a significant toast, announced the 
approaching hostilities. Just one year before, Kieft had 
dissolved the board of " Twelve Men," and had forbidden 
any public meetings without his express permission. He 
had, moreover, distinctly denied that the Twelve Men had 
any other function than simply to give their advice re- 
specting the murder of Smits. But now that a self-con- 
stituted committee, falsely claiming to represent the Twelve 
Men elected by the commonalty, counseled violence, the 
director rashly resolved to make the savages " wipe their 
chops." They had unanimously refused to pay the con- 
tribution he had imposed ; and, seeing himself deprived 
of this source of revenue, "of which he was very greedy," 
Kieft was charged with now devising other means " to 
satisfy his insatiable avaricious soul."t 

Van Tienhoven and Corporal Hans Steen were, there- 
fore, promptly dispatched to Pavonia to reconnoitre the 
position of the savages. But Domine Bogardus, who was 

24 Feb. invited to the council, warned Kieft against his rashness. 
La Montagne begged him to wait for the arrival of the 

* De Vries, 178 ; Brecden Raedt, 15 ; Hoi. Doc., ii., 374 ; iii., 146, 220 ; O'Call.. i., 2G6. 
419; Doc. Hist. N.Y., iv., 10, 11. t De Vries, 178 ; Brecden Raedt, 15 ; ante, p 329 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 351 

next ship from the Fatherland, and predicted that he was chap. x. 
buikling a bridge over which, before long, "war would "7""""' 
stalk through the whole country." De Vries protested ^ieft warn- 
that no warlike steps could be taken without the assent ^fg''/a'*j.',"^' 
of the commonalty; and that the advice Kieft had re-"^®^' 
ceived was not that of the Twelve Men, of whom he was 
the president. The destruction of the colonies at Swaan- 
endat'l and at Staten Island, and the bootless expedition 
against the Raritans, were held up as warning examples. 
The Dutch colonists in the open country, it was urged, 
were all unprepared, and the Indians would wreak their 
vengeance on the unprotected farmers. It was all in vain. 
Taking De Vries with him into the great hall which he 
had just completed at the side of his house, Kieft showed 
him " all his soldiers ready reviewed," to pass over the 
river to Pavonia. " Let this work alone," again urged 
De Vries ; " you want to break the Indians' mouths, but 
you will also murder our own people."* 

All remonstrance was idle. The director doggedly re- ah remmi- 
plied, " The order has gone forth ; it can not be recalled." "vain. 
Van Tienhoven had reconnoitered the position of the sav- 
ages at Pavonia, and his " false report" had confirmed 
Kieft's resolution. Orders were issued to Sergeant Rodolf 
to lead a troop of soldiers to Pavonia, and " drive away 
and destroy" the savages who were " skulking" behind 
the bouwery of Jan Evertsen Bout. A similar commission 25 Feb. 
directed Adriaensen, with a force of volunteers, to attack 
" a party of savages skulking behind Corlaer's Hoeck," 
and " act with them in every such manner as they shall 
deem proper." " The commonalty solicit," was the false 
pretense by which Kieft endeavored to screen himself from 
any unhappy consequences of his bloody purposes ; which 
his impious orders declared were undertaken " in the full 
confidence that G-od will crown our resolutions with suc- 
cess."! 



» De Vries, 178; Hoi. Doc, ii., 161, 174; iii., 110; v., 51, 52; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iv., 10. 
t Alb. Ree., ii., 210, 211 ; IIoI. Doc, iii., 148, 204; v.. 333, 334; O'CaU., i., 267, 268; 
ii., N. Y. H. S. Coll., i., 278 ; ii., 300. 



3:52 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

• HAJ-. X During the night between the twenty-fifth and twenty- 
. sixth of February, the tragedy which Kieft and his coad- 
jutors had been meditating, was terribly accomplished. 
Crossing over to Pavonia, Rodolf cautiously led his force 
of eighty soldiers to the encampment of the refugee Tap- 
pans, near the bouweries of Bout and Wouterssen. About 
midnight, while the savages were quietly sleeping in fan- 
cied security from their Mohawk subjugators, the mur- 
derous attack commenced. The noise of muskets min- 
gled with the shrieks of the terrified Indians. Neither age 
nor sex were spared. Warrior and squaw, sachem and 
child, mother and babe, were alike massacred. Daybreak 
scarcely ended the furious slaughter. Mangled victims, 
seeking safety in the thickets, were driven into the river ; 
and parents, rushing to save their children whom the sol- 
diery had thrown into the stream, were driven back into 
the waters, and drowned before the eyes of their unrelent- 

Massdcrcating murdcrcrs. Eighty savages perished at Pavonia. "I 
sat up that night," said De Tries, " by the kitchen fire at 
the director's. About midnight, hearing loud slu-ieks, I 
ran up to the ramparts of the fort. Looking toward Pa- 
vonia, I saw nothing but shooting, and heard nothing but 
the shrieks of Indians murdered in their sleep." A few 
minutes afterward, an Indian and a squaw, wJio lived 
near Vriesendael, and who had escaped from Pavonia in a 
small skiff", came to the kitchen fire, whither De Yries had 
returned with an aching heart. " The Fort Orange In- 
dians have fallen on us," said the terrified savages, " and 
we have come to hide ourselves in the fort." " It is no 
time to hide yourselves in the fort — no Indians have done 
this deed. It is the work of the Swannekens — the Dutch," 
answered the humane De Yries, as he led the undeceived 
fugitives to the gate, " where stood no sentinel," and 

Aitack on watclicd tlicm until thev were liidden in the woods. In 

the savages 

aicoriaor'sthe mcau tuuc, Adriacnseu and his party had surprised 
the Weckquaesgeek fugitives at Corlaer's Hook, and mur- 
dered forty of them in their sleep. The carnage of that 
awful night equaled in remorseless cruelty the atrocities, 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 353 

six years before, at the fort on the Mistic ; in the number chap. x, 
of victims alone were the murderous exploits of the New 
Netherland Dutch against the North River savages less 
shocking to humanity, than the ruthless achievements of 
the New England Puritans against the devoted tribe of 
the Pequods. 

Morning at length came, and the victorious parties re- 26 Feb. 
turned to Fort Amsterdam with thirty prisoners and the the soldier* 
heads of several of their victims. The "Roman achieve- stcrdam 
ment" of the conquerors was acknowledged by largesses 
to the soldiery, who were welcomed back by Kieft per- 
sonally, with "shaking of the hands and congratulations." 
The example of the exulting director was infectious. Even 
women joined in the triumph, and insulted the bloody tro- 
phies. Cupidity, too, followed the track of carnage. A 
small party of Dutch and English colonists went over to 
Pavonia to pillage the deserted encampment. In vain the 
soldiers left there on guard warned them to return. They 
persisted ; and Dirck Straatmaker and his wife were killed 
by some outlaying Indians, whose wigwams they attempt- 
ed to plunder. The English, " who had one gun amongst 
them," narrowly escaped a similar fate.* 

The success of the expeditions against the refugee sav- 
ages at Pavonia and Corlaer's Hoeck provoked emulation. 
"Wolfertsen, and some of his neighbors at New Amersfoort, 
signed a petition to the director for permission to attack 27 Feb. 

the Marechkawiecks, who resided between them and island In- 
dians at- 
Breuckelen. But Kieft, yielding to the advice of Bogar- tacked. 

dus and others of his council, refused his assent. The 
Marechkawiecks had never done any thing unfriendly to 
the Dutch, and were " hard to conquer ;" to attack them 
now would only be to add them to the number of already 
exasperated foes ; it would lead to a destructive war, and 
bring ruin on the aggressors. Nevertheless, if these In- 
dians showed signs of hostility, the director authorized 
every colonist to defend himself as best he might. 

* De Vrles, 179; Breeden Raedt, 16, 17; Alb. Roc, iii., 117; Hoi. Doc, ii., 375; iii., 
112 ; O'Call., i., 269 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iv., 11. 



1643. 



354 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. X. Kieft's proviso was unfortunate. The red man's corn 
was coveted ; and some movements of the Marechkawiecks 
were conveniently construed into those signs of hostility 
for which the ambiguous decree had provided. A secret 
foraging expedition was presently set on foot, and two 
wagon-loads of grain were plundered from the unsus- 
pecting savages; who, in vainly endeavoring to protect- 
their property, lost tliree lives in the skirmish which fol- 
lowed.* 

The sav- It only needed this scandalous outrage to fill the meas- 

ages arous- r t t -i tt ^ • • it ti 

edtovenge-ure of ludiau endurance. Up to this time, the Long Isl- 
and savages had been among the Avarraest friends of the 
Dutch. Now they had been attacked and plundered by 
the strangers whom they had welcomed, and to whom they 
had done no wrong. Common cause was at once made 
with the North River Indians, who burned with frenzied 
hate and revenge, when they found that the midnight 
massacres at Pavonia and Manhattan were not the work 
of the Mohawks, but of the Dutch. From swamps and 
thickets the mysterious enemy made his sudden onset. 
The farmer was murdered in the open field ; women and 
children, granted their lives, were swept off" into a long 
captivity ; houses and bouweries, haystacks and grain, 
cattle and crops, were all destroyed. From the shores of 
the Raritan to the valley of the Housatonic, not a single 
plantation was safe. Eleven tribes of Indians rose in open 
war ; and New Netherland now read the awful lesson 
which Connecticut had learned six years before. Such 
of the colonists as escaped with their lives, fled fi-om their 
desolated homes to seek refuge in Fort Amsterdam. In 

Despair of their despair, they threatened to return to the Fatherland, 

nists. or remove to Rensselaerswyck, " which experienced no 
trouble." Fearing a general depopulation, Kieft was 

1 March, obliged to take all the colonists into the pay of the com- 
pany, to serve as soldiers for two months. At this con- 
juncture, Roger Williams, who, " not having liberty of 
taking ship" in Massachusetts, " was forced to repair unto 

* Hoi. Doc, iii., 110; v., 320, 337, 338; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iv., 11. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 35§ 

the Dutch," arrived at Manhattan, on his way to Europe, chap. x. 
"Before we weighed anchor," wrote the liberal-minded 
founder of Rhode Island, eleven years afterward, " mine 
eyes saw the flames at their towns, and the flights and 
hurries of men, women, and children, the present removal 
of all that could for Holland."* 

Even Vriesendael did not escape the general calamity, vriesendaei 
The outhouses, and crops, and cattle on the plantation 
were destroyed. The terrified colonists escaped into the 
manor house, in which De Vries had prudently construct- 
ed loop-holes for musketry. While all were standing on 
their guard, the same Indian whom the patroon had hu- 
manely conducted out of Fort Amsterdam on the night of 
the massacre at Pavonia, coming up to the besiegers, re- 
lated the occurrence, and told them that De Vries was "a 
good chief." The grateful savages at once cried out to De 
Vries's people that, if they had not already destroyed the 
cattle, they would not do so now ; they would let the lit- 
tle brewery stand, although they " longed for the copper 
kettle, to make barbs for theii* arrows." The siege was 
instantly raised, and the relenting red men departed. 
Hastening down to Manhattan, De Vries indignantly de- 
manded of Kieft, " Has it not happened just as I said, that 
you were only helping to shed Christian blood?" "Who 
will now compensate us for our losses ?" But the humil- 
iated director " gave no answer." He was surprised that 
no Indians had come to the fort. " It is no wonder," re- 
torted De Vries ; " why should they, whom you have 
treated so, come here ?"t 

Kieft now sent a friendly message to the Long Island Fruitless 

TT Ti 1-T 11. message to 

Indians. But the indignant savages would not listen, the Lor.g 
" Axe you our friends ?" cried the Indians from afar ; ages. 
" you are only corn-thieves ;" and the messengers return- 
ed to Fort Amsterdam, to report the taunting words with 
which the red men had rejected the advances of the faith- 
less chief at Manhattan.^ 

* Breeden Raedt, 17, 18; Hoi. Doc, ii., 375; Alb. Rec, ii., 213; Winthrop, ii., 97; 
R. I. H. S. Coll., iii., 155 ; O'Call., i., 271, 420 ; Bancroft, ii., 291. 

f De Vries, 180. t Hoi. Doc, iii., Ill ; Doc Hist. N. Y., iv., U. 



356 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. X. All this time the obstinate director had remained safely 
within the walls of Fort Amsterdam, where flocked the 

1 PA Q 

o v.? victims of his rashness. It was hard to bear the wrath 

Public 

'^^l""', ,. of ruined farmers, and childless men, and widowed wom- 

against the ' ' 

director. ^^ To divert the public clamor, several other expeditions 
were sent out against the Indians, under the command of 
Adriaensen. But the marauding force, which was partly 
composed of English colonists, returned without having 
accomplished any thing ; while Adriaensen himself, in 
witnessing the destruction of his own bouwery, was made 
to taste the bitter fruits of that war which his own coun- 
sels had assisted to provoke. The proud heart of the di- 
rector began to fail him at last. In one week, desolation 
and sorrow had taken the place of gladness and prosperity. 
The colony intrusted to his charge was nearly ruined. It 
was time to humble himself before the Most High, and in- 
voke from Heaven the mercy which the Christian had re- 
4 March, fuscd to the savagc. A day of general fasting and prayer 
tion'fora was proclaimed. "We continue to suffer much trouble 

(iftv of fast- 

ing. and loss from the heathen, and many of our inhabitants 

see their lives and property in jeopardy, which is doubt- 
less owing to our sins," was Kieft's contrite confession, as 
he exhorted every one penitently to supplicate the mer- 
cy of G-od, " so that his holy name may not, through our 
iniquities, be blasphemed by the heathen."* 
The people But whilc tlic people humbled themselves before their 
STieft G-od, they still held the director personally responsible for 
Holland, all the conscquenccs of the massacres at Pavonia and Cor- 
laer's Hook ; and some of the burghers, and of the for- 
mer board of Twelve Men, boldly talked of imitating the 
example which Virginia had set, in the case of Harvey, by 
Kicn-s deposing Kieft, and sending him back to Holland. The 
t'erni'ge.'^ dircctor, in alarm, endeavored to shift the responsibility 
upon Adriaensen and his coadjutors, who had so wrong- 
fully used the name of the commonalty in the petition 

* Alb. Rec, ii., 214, 215; IIol. Doc, iii., Ill ; O'Call., i.,271, 272. The custom of set- 
ting apart, by the secular authority, days of public humiliation and public thanksgiving, 
obtained in Holland, as we have seen, before the settlement of New Netherland or New 
England ; ante, p. 41. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 357 

which urged the war. " For what has occurred," pleaded Chap. x. 

Kieft, "you must blame the freemen." "You forbade 

1643 
those freemen to meet, on pain of punishment for disobe- 
dience," retorted the indignant burghers ; " how came it, 
then ?" The convicted director was silenced.* 

Finding that Kieft was endeavoring to divert from him- 
self the odium of the slaughter of the Indians and the 
misery of the colonists, Adriaensen, now himself an almost 
ruined man, had no disposition to bear all the bitterness 
of popular reproach. Arming himself with a hanger and Adriaensen 
pistol, he rushed into the director's room, demandinsr director. 

. . 21 March 

"What lies are these you are reporting of me?" The 
would-be assassin was promptly disarmed and imprisoned; 
but his servant, with another of his men, armed with guns 
and pistols, hastened to the fort, where one of them, firing 
at the director, was shot down by the sentinel, and his 
head set upon the gallows. The prisoner's comrades now 
crowded around the director's door, demanding their lead- 
er's release. Kieft refused ; but agreed to submit the 
question to the commonalty, with liberty to the prisoner's 
friends to select some of their number to assist at the ex- 
amination. This, however, they declined to do, and in- 
sisted that the prisoner should be discharged upon his pay- 
ing a fine of five hundred guilders, and absenting him- 
self for three months from Manhattan. The director, wish- 
ing to show some deference to the commonalty, proposed 
to call in some of the most respectable citizens, to sit with 
his council in deciding the case. But the commonalty, 
unwilling to countenance the abuse which the director 
had deceitfully neglected to amend, refused ; and Kieft, 28 iwarcu 
finding that " no one would or dared" assist him, determ- 
ined to SQnd Adriaensen to Holland for trial.! 

* Alb. Rec, iii., 109 ; Hoi. Doc, iii., 149-154, 

t Alb. Rec.,ii., 216-219; iii., 94; IIol. Doc, iii., 112 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iv., 12 ; O'Call., 
i., 273, 274 ; Winthrop, ii., 97. The New England historians wlio allude to this case, ac- 
count for Adriaensen's attack on Kieft on the ground of his jealousy of Underbill. But 
Underbill was not then in the service of ttie Dutch ; nor did he enter it until the autumn 
of 1643. Adriaensen, returning to New Nelberland, obtained a patent on the lltb of May, 
1647, for " Awiehaken," on the west side of the North River, now known as Weehaken, 
juet north of Hoboken.— Alb. Rec. G. G., 491 



358 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. X. Meanwhile, the Long Island Indians had begun to re- 
lent. Spring was at hand, and they desired to plant their 

4 March ^om. Three delegates from the wigwams of Penhawitz, 
WMdTn^ their " great chief," approached Fort Amsterdam, bearing 
sir^e"!*^^' ^ white flag. "Who will go to meet them?" demanded 
peace. Kicft. None were willing but De Vries and Jacob Olfert- 

sen. " Our chief has sent us," said the savages, " to know 
why you have killed his people, who have never laid a 
straw in your way, nor done you aught but good ?" 
" Come and speak to our chief on the sea-coast." Set- 
ting out with the Indian messengers, De Vries and Olfert- 
sen, in the evening, came to " Rechqua-akie," or Rocka- 
way, where they found nearly three hundred savages, and 
about thirty wigwams. The chief, "who had but one 
eye," invited them to pass the night in his cabin, and re- 
galed them with oysters and fish. 

5 March. At break of day, the envoys from Manhattan were con- 
and oifert- ducted iuto the woods about four hundred yards off, where 
Rockaway. they fouud sixtecu chiefs of Long Island waiting for their 

coming. Placing the two Europeans in the centre, the 
chiefs seated themselves around in a ring, and their "best 
speaker" arose, holding in his hand a bundle of small sticks. 
" When you first came to our coasts," slowly began the 
orator, " you sometimes had no food ; we gave you our 
beans and corn, and relieved you with our oysters and 
fish ; and now, for recompense, you murder our people ;" 
and he laid down a little stick. " In the beginning of 
your voyages, you left your people here with their goods ; 
we traded with them while your ships were away, and 
cherished them as the apple of our eye ; we gave them 
our daughters for companions, who have borne children, 
and many Indians have sprung from the Swajmekcns ; 
and now you villainously massacre your own blood." 
The chief laid down another stick ; many more remained 
in his hand ; but Do Vries, cutting short the reproachful 
catalogue, invited the chiefs to accompany him to Fort 
Amsterdam, where the director "would give them pres- 
ents to make a peace." 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 359 

The chiefs, assenting, ended tlieir oration ; and, pre- Chap. x. 
senting De Vries and his colleague each with ten fathoms 
of wampum, the party set out for their canoes, to shorten ,j.^^ gg. 
the return of the Dutch envoys. While waiting for the f^^l^r' 
tide to rise, an armed Indian, who had been dispatched by '*'•"■'^^"'■ 
a sachem twenty miles off, came running to warn the 
chiefs against going to Manhattan. " Ai-e you all crazy, to 
go to the fort," said he, "where that scoundrel lives, who 
has so often murdered your friends ?" But De Vries as- 
sured them that "they would find it otherwise, and come 
home again with large presents." One of the chiefs re- 
plied at once, " Upon your words we will go ; for the In- 
dians have never heard lies from you, as they have from 
other Swannekens." 

Embarking in a large canoe, the Dutch envoys, accom- 
panied by eighteen Indian delegates, set out from Rock- 
away, and reached Fort Amsterdam about three o'clock 
in the afternoon. A treaty was presently made with the 25 March. 
Long Island savages ; and Kieft, giving them some pres- peace con- 
ents, asked them to bring to the fort the chiefs of the Riv- 
er tribes, " who had lost so many Indians," that he might 
make peace with them also.* 

Some of the Long Island sachems accordingly went to 
Hackinsack and Tappan. But it was several weeks be- 
fore the enraged savages would listen to the counsels of 
the mediators, or put any faith in the director. At last, 
Oritany, the sachem of the Hackinsacks, invested with a Peace cov- 
plenipotentiary commission from the neighboring tribes, with the 
appeared at Fort Amsterdam. Kieft " endowed him withdians. 
presents ;" and peace was covenanted between the River 
Indians and the Dutch. Mutual injuries were to be "for- 
given and forgotten forever;" future provocations were re- 

* De Vries, 182 ; Alb. Rec, ii., 214, 215 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iv., 12 ; O'Call., i., 2T6. 
Winthrop, ii., 97, says that the Indians, "by the mediation of Mr. Williams, who was 
then there to go in a Dutch ship for England, were pacified, and peace re-established be- 
tween the Dutch and them." But Winthrop errs in this statement. Williams, in his let- 
ter of the 5th of October, IfiSl, to the General Court of Massachusetts, in which he speaks 
of the war (R. 1. II. S. Coll., iii., 155), says nothing whatever in respect to his own agency 
with the Indians in bringing about the peace. Indeed, he seems to have sailed for Eu- 
rope while the war was yet raging. On the other hand, De Vrie.s's own minute and faith- 
ful journal seem.s to be conclusive. 



360 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



1643. 



Chap. X. ciprocally to be avoided ; hostile movements of other tribes, 
not included in the treaty, were to be prevented within 
the territories of the Hackinsacks, Tappans, and West 
Chester Indians ; while timely warning was to be given 
to " the Christians" of any brewing mischief. 

The In- But the savages went away "grumbling at their pres- 

dians still i^ci- iii-ii i i- 

discontent- euts — lor their young men would think them only a tri- 
fling atonement. Nor was confidence fully restored. The 
trembling farmers planted their corn, in peace indeed, but 
in constant dread of the murmuring Indians' sudden war- 
whoop. The director himself distrusted the ominous re- 

18 June, pose ; and a new proclamation from Fort Amsterdam pro- 
hibited all tavern-keepers, and other inhabitants of New 
Netherland from selling any liquors to the savages. 

eojuiy. At midsummer a neighboring chief visited Vriesendael 
in deep despondency. The young Indians were urging 
war ; for some had lost fathers or mothers, and all were 
mourning over the memory of friends. " The presents 
you have given to atone for their losses are not worth the 
touch;" " we can pacify our young men no longer," said 
the well-meaning sachem, as he warned De Vries against 
venturing alone into the woods, for fear that some of the 
Indians, who did not know him, might kill their constant 
friend. At the patroon's entreaty, the chief accompanied 

Kieft's vain him dowu to Fort Amsterdam. "You are a chief — you 

bribe a should causc the crazy young Indians who want war again 
with the Swannekens to be killed," said Kieft, as he treach- 
erously offered the sachem a bounty of two hundred fath- 
oms of wampum. But the indignant red man spurned 
the proffered bribe. " This can not be done by me," he 
replied ; " had you, at first, fully atoned for your mur- 
ders, they would all have been forgotten ; I shall always 
do my best to pacify our people ; but I fear I can not, for 
they are continually crying for vengeance."* And so thf 
boding sachem went his way. 

* Alb. Rec, ii., 220, 224 ; Dc Vries, 162 ; O'Call., i., 277 ; Bancroft, ii., 292. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 361 



CHAPTER XL 
1643-1644. 

The "Old Colony" of Plymouth was founded by emi- chap. xi. 
sfrants who, as we have seen, had learned valuable les- 
sons in popular constitutional liberty, during a twelve ^^^ y^jj^^j 
years' sojourn in Holland. The example which the union ^^"'^"g,^."'' 
of the Northern Provinces of the Netherlands had given to ^'*"'*- 
Europe in 1579, was now, after more than sixty years' 
experience, to be followed in America. Troubles were 
prevailing in England ; the Puritan colonies were threat- 
ened with danger ; the savages and the French were both 
to be feared ; and Connecticut alone could not overawe 
and " crowd out" her Dutch neighbors in New Netherland. 
New Plymouth, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New 
Haven, therefore, determined to form a political league 
for offense and defense. Commissioners from these sev- 
eral colonies assembled at Boston in the spring of 1643 ; 
and, on the nineteenth day of May, agreed upon Articles i9 May. 
of Confederation, by which the " United Colonies of New 
England" became " all as one." 

The administration of the affairs of the confederacy was 
intrusted to a board, consisting of two commissioners from 
each colony. They were to assemble annually, or oftener, 
if necessary. The commissioners were always to be " in 
church fellowship." They were invested with extraordi- 
nary powers for making war and peace ; they had the ex- 
clusive management of Indian affairs ; and they were to 
see that the common expenses of the confederacy were 
justly assessed. The spoils of war, " whether it be in 
lands, goods, or persons," were to be proportionably di- 



362 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

VHK? XI. vided among the confederates. Specific provision was 
made for the surrender of runaway servants, and of fugi- 
■ tives from justice ; who, upon proper proof, were to be sent 
back to their masters, or to the authorities of the colony 
from which they might have escaped. Neither of the col- 
onies was to engage in a war without the consent of at 
least six of the commissioners. Local " peculiar jurisdic- 
tion and government" was carefully reserved to each sep- 
arate colony in the New England confederation, as it had 
been carefully reserved, sixty years before, to each sepa- 
rate province of the United Netherlands. The doctrine 
of " State Rights" is nearly three centuries old. The 
Union of Utrecht — the first Constitutional Union of Sov- 
ereign and Independent States — was essentially the model 
for the first Union of American colonies.* 
Kieft ad- As soou as intelligence of the New England confedera- 
commis- tiou reached Manhattan, Kieft, wishing to open a commu- 
20 July, nication with the commissioners, dispatched a sloop to 
Boston, with letters in Latin, addressed to "the Governor 
and Senate of the United Provinces of New England." 
Congratulating them on their recent league, the director 
complained of the " insufferable wrongs" which the En- 
glish had done to the Dutch on the Connecticut, and of 
the misrepresentations of Lord Say, Peters, and others to 
the States' ambassador at London; and desired "a cate- 
gorical answer," whether the commissioners would aid or 
desert the Hartford people, that so the New Netherland 
government "may know their friends from their enemies." 
The commissioners were not in session when the Dutch 
winthrop sloop arrived at Boston. But G-overnor Winthrop, the pre- 

replics. .. !■• ■ ^ ^ 

sidmg commissioner, after " advising with some of the 
f'.j August, elders who were at hand, and some of the deputies," re- 
plied in his own name. Referring Kieft to their " chiefest 
authority," from which he " should receive further answer 
in time convenient," "Winthrop expressed his grief at the 
differences with his brethren of Hartford, which, he suggest- 

* See Articles at length, in Iliizard, ii., 1-6 ; and in Winthroii, ii., 101 ; Morton's Memo- 
rial, 229 ; Hutch., i., 119, 120 ; Bancroa, i., 420-422 ; Hildreth, i., 285, 286 ; post, p. 445. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 363 

ed, "might be composed by arbiters, either in England or chap. xi. 
Holland, or here." The confederates were bound " to seek 
the good and safety of each other ;" but the difficulty "be- 
ing only for a small parcel of land, was a matter of so little 
value in this vast continent, as was not worthy to cause a 
breach between two people so nearly related both in pro- 
fession of the same Protestant religion and otherwise." 

When the commissioners met, a month afterward, September. 
Connecticut made complaints on her side, and New Ha- mi!fsioner8' 
ven handed in statements of the grievances which their Kieft.'^'^ ° 
people had sull'cred from the Dutch and Swedes on the 
South River. Winthrop was now instructed to communi- 
cate their complaints to Kieft, " requiring answer to the 
particulars, that as we will not wrong others, so we may 
not desert our confederates in any just cause." The pres- 1| sept 
ident accordingly wrote to Kieft, recapitulating the in- 
juries which New Haven had suffered on the South Riv- 
er, the charges against Provoost, the Dutch commissary 
at Fort Good Hope, "for sundry unworthy passages," and 
expressing the opinion of the commissioners in favor of 
the "justice of the cause of Hartford in respect of title of 
the land." This opinion the commissioners "could not 
change," unless they could see more light than had yet 
appeared to them " by the title the Dutch insisted upon." 
But Kieft, dissatisfied with this reply, again asserted the 1644. 
right of the Dutch to their lands at Hartford, and renew- ^^^^'^^' 
ed his complaints of injuries.* 

In the mean time, the red men were thirsting for blood; 
and a general war between the Indian and the European 
appeared to be at hand. The valley of the Connecticut 1643. 
again became the scene of strife ; and Miantonomoh, burn- The con- 
ing to avenge upon Uncas the indignities which he had.lfan's'^^n'"" 
suftered at Boston, invaded the Mahican country, at the A'ug"u^"' 
head of a thousand warriors. But the fate of war threw 
the Narragansett chief into the hands of his rival, who 
transferred his prisoner to the custody of the English at 
Hartford. The commissioners, meeting at Boston, agreed September. 

* Winthrop, ii., 129, 130, 140, 157 ; Hazard, u., 11, 215,216. 



364 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XI. that he ought to be put to death ; and Uncas, receiving 
back Miantonomoh from his English jailer, conducted him 
Murder of ^^ ^^® bordcrs of the Mahican territory, and executed their 
Mmntoiio- judgment upon a former ally.* 

The spirit of war, at the same time, broke out among 
the upper tribes on the North River ; and Pacham, the 
subtile chief of the Tankitekes near Haverstraw, visiting 
the Wappingers above the Highlands, urged them to a 
7 August, general massacre of the Dutch. A shallop coming dov^^n 
diansat- from Fort Oraugc with a cargo of four hundred beaver 
trading skius, was attacked and plundered, and one of the crew 
the North was killed. Two other open boats were presently seized ; 
but, in attacking a fourth, the savages were repulsed, and 
lost six of their warriors. Nine of the Dutch colonists 
were killed, and a woman and two children taken pris- 
oners. Others were slain by the savages, who approached 
their scattered dwellings under the guise of friendship 
Intelligence of the outbreak was quickly borne to Fort 
Amsterdam ; and the news of "fifteen Dutch slain by the 
Indians, and much beaver taken," soon reached Boston.t 
September. The appalling crisis compelled Kieft to summon the peo- 
monsthe pie again into council. The commonalty were convoked 
ty again, at Fort Amsterdam, and asked to elect "five or six per- 
sons from among themselves," to consider the propositions 
which the director might submit. The people met ; but 
remembering Kieft's cavalier treatment of the " Twelve 
Men" in the previous year, they " considered it wise" to 
leave the responsibility of selection to the director and 
council, provided the right should be reserved to them- 
selves to reject the persons " against whom there might 
be any thing to object, and who are not pleasing to 
us." The scruples of the commonalty, however, were 
overcome ; and again imitating the example of the Fa- 
" Eight therland, the people elected " Eight Men" from among 
chosen, thcmsclvcs, " maturely to consider" the propositions of 

* Winthrop, ii., 130, and Savage's note, on page 132; Hazard, ii., 7-13; Col. Rec. 
Conn., 94 ; Trumbull, i., 129-134 ; Bancroa, i., 424 ; Hildreth, i., 292, 293. 
t Alb. Rec, iii., 143 ; Hoi. Uoc., iii., 114 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., Iv., 12; Winthrop, ii., 130. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 365 

the director. This second board of popular representatives chap. xi. 
in New Netherland consisted of Jochem Pietersen Kuyter, 
Jan Jansen Dam, Barent Dircksen, Abraham Pietersen, 
Isaac Allerton, Thomas Plall, Grerrit Wolfertsen, and Cor- 
nelis Melyn.* 

Two days after their election, the Ei<?ht Men mot, at is Sept. 

.... Assembly 

Kieft's summons, "to consider the critical circumstances oruie Eight 

11- Men. 

of the country." Before attending to any other business, 
they resolved to exclude from their board Jan Jansen Dam, 
one of the signers of the letter to Kieft, which was the im- 
mediate cause of the massacres at Pavonia and Corlaer's 
Hook. In vain Dam protested, and charged the director 
with deceit in procuring his signature. The obnoxious 
representative was inexorably expelled ; and Jan E vert- 
sen Bout, of Pavonia, was selected by the remaining sev- 
en to fill his vacant seat. The Eight Men, having thus 
purged their board, resolved that hostilities should be im- warlike 
mediately renewed against the river Indians ; but that authorized, 
peace should be preserved with the Long Island tribes, 
who were to be encouraged to bring in " some heads of 
the murderers." As large a military force as the freemen 
could afford to pay, was to be promptly enlisted and 
equipped. Several " good and fitting articles" were also 
ordained by the Eight Men, " forbidding all taverning, and 
all other irregularities." A week's preaching was pre- 
scribed instead ; but the praiseworthy order " was not 
carried into execution by the officer. "t 

Kieft did not delay the warlike preparations which the 
Eight Men had authorized. The colonists and the serv- 
ants of the company were armed and drilled ; and as the English 
English inhabitants were now threatening to leave Newem-ouedf 
Netherland, they were taken into the public service; the 
commonalty agreeing to provide for one third of their pay. 

* Hoi. Doc, iii., 141, 144 ; O'Call., i., 284. Kuyter and Dam had been members of the 
previous board of Twelve Men ; ante, p. 317. Cornells Melyn was the patroon of Staten 
Island. Thomas Hall was the deserter from Holmes's party on the South River in 1635. 
Isaac Allerton came to New Plymouth in the Mayflower, and, about the year 1638, removed 
to Manhattan, where he continued to have large transactions as a merchant. — Alb. Rec, 
i., 70, 71 ; ii., 42, 54, 131 ; Savage's note to Winthrop, i., 25 ; ii., 96, 210. 

t Alb. Rec, ii., 231 ; Hoi. Doc, iii., 145, 215 ; v., 323 ; O'Call., i., 285, 286. 



366 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XI. Fifty Englishmen were promptly enrolled ; all of whom 

swore to be faithful to the States Greneral, the Prince of 

29 s Orange, the West India Company, and the director and 
council of New Netherland, and to " sacrifice their lives 
Captain in their and the couutry's scrvice." The command of this 
taken into forcG was intrustcd to Captain John Underhill, one of the 
service, hcroes in the Pequod war ; who, having undergone the 
severe discipline of the Boston Church, had established 
himself at Stamford, a little east of Captain Patrick's set- 
tlement at Grreenwich, and now offered to the Dutch the 
benefit of his veteran skill.* 
The Week- But bcforc Kieft could complete his military arrange- 
destroy*^^ ^ mcuts, the Weckquaesgeeks dug up the hatchet which 
Hutohin- they had buried, eighteen months before, on the shores of 
tiement". Bronx Rivcr. Approaching " in way of friendly neighbor- 
ep em er. j^^^^^ ^^ ^^iQ-y had bccn accustomcd," the widowed Anne 
Hutchinson's blameless retreat at "Annie's Hoeck," they 
watched their opportunity, and murdered that extraordin- 
ary woman, her daughter, and Collins, her son-in-law, 
and all her family, save one grand-daughter, eight years 
old, whom they carried off into captivity. The houses and 
Throgmor- cattlc wcrc ruthlcssly destroyed.! From Annie's Hoeck, 
menl at"'^ the devastating party proceeded downward to " Vrede- 
tacked i^ud," and attacked Throgmorton's peaceful settlement. 
Such of Throgmorton's and Cornell's families as were at 
home were killed, and the cattle, and barns, and houses 
were all burned up. A happy accident bringing a boat 
there at the very moment of the tragedy, some women 

♦ Alb. Rec., ii., 233; Hoi. Doc, ii., 377; iii., 121 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iv., 13; O'Call., 
i., 286, 420 ; Winthrop, ii., 14, 63, 97. Winthrop, however, erroneously represents — and 
Trumbull (i., 139) copies the error — that the Dutch people were so offended with Kiefl, 
that he " durst not trust himself among them, but entertained a guard of fifty English 
about his person." The people were, no doubt, offended enough ; and, for that reason, 
it is not probable that they would have agreed to pay part of the expense of an English 
body-guard for the director. 

t Winthrop, ii., 136 ; Gorton's Defense, in ii., R. I. H. S. Coll., 58, 59 ; Alb. Rec, ii., . 
315 ; ii., N. Y. H. S. Coll., i., 276 ; Bolton's West Chester, i., 515. Welde, in his " Rise, 
Reign, and Ruin of the Antinomians," thus records the destruction of their leader. " The 
Indians set upon them, and slew her and all her family, her daughter and her daughter's 
husband, and all their children, save one that escaped (her own husband being dead be- 
fore). * * * Cod's hand is the more apparently seen herein, to pick out this woeful 
woman, to make her, and those belonging to her, an unheard-of heavy example of their 
cruelty above others." 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 367 

and children fled on board ; and thus the settlement was chap. xi. 

saved from utter extermination. Nevertheless, eighteen 

1643 
victims of the red man's indiscriminating fury lost their 

lives in West Chester.* 

The vengeance which desolated West Chester did not 
spare Long Island. Lady Deborah Moody, who had been Lady 
"dealt with" by the Church at Salem for "the error of braVde- 
denying baptism to infants," having fled for refuge, with June.' 
many others "infected with Anabaptism," into New Neth- 
erland, had established herself, by Kieft's special permis- 
sion, at 's Grravensande, or Grravesend, on Long Island. 
But she had scarcely become settled in her retreat before 
her plantation was attacked by the savages. A brave de- September, 
fense was, nevertheless, made by forty resolute colonists ; 
the fierce besiegers were repulsed ; and Grravesend escaped 
the fate which overwhelmed all the neighboring settle- 
ments on Long Island.! 

Doughty's settlement at Mespath, or Newtown, did notDougmys 
fare so well. During the first year, he had re-enforced at Me.spath 
himself with several new families of colonists. More than 
eighty persons were soon settled in Mespath, and an air 
of prosperity prevailed. Doughty himself, who had 
" scarcely means enough of his own to build even a hovel, 
let alone to people a colony at his own expense," was em- 
ployed as minister ; and his associates prepared for him a 
farm, upon the profits of which he lived, while he dis- 
charged, in return, the clerical duties of his station. But 
the savages attacking the settlement, the colonists were 
driven from their lands, " with the loss of some men and 
many cattle, besides almost all their houses, and what 
other property they had." They afterward returned, and 
remained awhile ; but finding that they consumed more nist-s'^seek 
than they could raise, they fled for refuge to Manhattan. Manhattan. 

* Winthrop, ii., 13fi; Bolton's West Chester, i., 514. 

t H"l. Doc, iii., 135 ; Alb. Rec, xx., 7 ; Winthrop, ii., 124, 136; Thompson's L. I.,ii., 
169-173. Gravesend was not named, as many suppose, after the well-known English 
port on the Thames ; but Kiefl himself gave it the name of the ancient city, 's Graven- 
sande— " the Count's Sand"— on the northern banks of the Maas, opposite the Brielle, 
where the Counts of Ilolland resided before they established themselves at the Hague 
in th3 year 1250. 



368 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



Chap. XI 



1643. 



Hackin- 
sack at- 
tacked. 
17 Sept. 



The Neve- 

sincks 

aroused. 



Pavonia 
surprised. 



Here Doughty officiated as minister for the English resi- 
■ dents ; but they not supporting him, two collections were 
taken up for his benefit, to which both Dutch and English 
residents contributed.* 

The war-whoop, which rang through "West Chester and 
Long Island, was re-echoed through New Jersey. The 
grumbling Hackinsacks, unappeased by a sufficient atone- 
ment, soon fulfilled their sachem's foreboding words. A 
sudden night attack was made on Yan der Horst's colony 
at "Achter Cul." The house was set on fire; and the 
small garrison, "five soldiers, five boys, and one man," 
after a determined resistance, barely escaped in a canoe, 
with nothing but their arms. The plantation was utterly 
ruined. The Nevesincks below the Raritan were aroused. 
Aert Theunisen, of Hoboken, while trading at the Beere- 
gat — now known as Shrewsbury Inlet, just south of 
Sandy Hook — was attacked and killed by the savages. 
The yacht had scarcely returned to Manhattan with the 
tidings, before a nearer calamity appalled the Dutch. 
Nine Indians, coming to Pavonia with friendly demon- 
strations, approached the house of Jacob Stoffelsen, which 
was guarded by a detachment of three or four soldiers. 
Stoffelsen, who had married the widow of Van Voorst, 
Pauw's former superintendent, was a favorite with the 
savages, who, making up a " false errand," succeeded in 
sending him across the river to Fort Amsterdam. As soon 
as Stoffelsen was safely out of the way, they approached 
the soldiers under a show of friendship. These, incautious- 
ly laying aside their arms, were all murdered. Not a soul 
escaped alive, except the little son of Van Voorst, whom the 
savages carried off" a prisoner to Tappan, after burning all 
the bouweries, and houses, and cattle, and corn at Pavo- 
At Kieft's earnest entreaty, De Vries, the only per- 



nia 



son who "durst go among the Indians," went up the river, 
and procured the release of the captive.t 



* Breeden Raedt, 25 ; Hoi. Doc, iv., 71 ; v., 360 ; ii., N. Y. H. S. Coll., ii., 301, 333. 
t Alb. Rec, ill., 153 ; IIol. Doc, iv., 247 ; ii., N. Y. H. S. Coll., ii., 302 ; Benson's Mem- 
oir, 92; De Vrics, 183. 



, coin- 
menceil. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 3(^9 

Thus the war began anew. West Chester was already cha.-. xr 

laid waste, and Long Island almost ''destitute of inhabit- 

ants and stock." From the Highlands of Nevesinck to„, 

'-' War re- 

the valley of Tappan, the whole of New Jersey was once 
more in possession of its aboriginal lords. Staten Island, 
where Melyn had established himself, was hourly expect- 
ing an assault. The devastating tide rolled over the isl- 
and of Manhattan itself. From its northern extremity to 
the Kolck, there were now no more than five or six bouw- 
eries left; and these " were threatened by the Indians ev- 
ery night with fire, and by day with the slaughter of both 
people and cattle." No other place remained, where the 
trembling population could find protection, than " around 
and adjoining Fort Amsterdam." There women and chil- 
dren lay " concealed in straw huts," while their husbands 
and fathers mounted guard on the crumbling ramparts 
above. For the fort itself was almost defenseless ; it re- 
sembled " rather a mole-hill than a fortress against an 
enemy." The cattle which had escaped destruction were 
huddled within the walls, and were already beginning to 
starve for want of forage. It was indispensable to main- 
tain a constant guard at all hours ; for seven allied tribes, 
'' well supplied with muskets, powder, and ball," which 
they had procured from private traders, boldly threatened 
to attack the dilapidated citadel, "with all their strength, 
now amounting to fifteen hundred men." So confident 
had the enemy become, that their scouting parties con- 
stantly threatened the advanced sentinels of the garrison ; 
and Ensign Van Dyck, while relieving guard at one of 5 octoiM-r 
the outposts, was wounded by a musket-ball in his arm. 
All the forces that the Dutch could now muster, besides 
the fifty or sixty soldiers in garrison, and the enrolled En- 
glish, were " about two hundred freemen." With this 
handful of men was New Netherland to be defended 
against the " implacable fury" of her savage foe.* 

"Fear coming more over the land," the Eight Mem'heEigtit 
were again convoked. There were two of the company's convoked. 

* IIol. Doc, iii., 134-140; Alb. Rec, ii., 238; Winthrop, ii., 136. 

Aa 



370 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XI. ships at anchor before the fort, which had just been load- 
[ ed with provisions for Curacoa. The Eight Men proposed 
^ ' ■ that the cargoes of these ships should be relanded, and a 
part of their crews drafted into the service of the province. 
6 October. They also recommended an application to their English 
mendations neighbors at the north, for the assistance of one hundred 
Men. and fifty men. For the payment of these auxiliaries, the 
director was advised to draw a bill of exchange on the 
West India Company for twenty-five thousand guilders, 
and, as a security for its payment, to mortgage New Neth- 
erland to the English.* 
Kieftre- But Kicft did not "consider expedient" the suggestion 
storttie to divert supplies from the West Indies ; and while fam- 
Bhif^^" ine and an overwhelming enemy were desolating the pre- 
cincts of Fort Amsterdam, the starving population watched 
the departing vessels, as they bore to Cura9oa the wheat 
which they had raised, and for which they were now pin- 
sendsto ing. The recommendation to apply to New England for 
vcn for as- assistaucc, was, however, promptly adopted ; and Under- 
bill and Allerton were dispatched to negotiate with New 
Haven. But their mission utterly failed. Eaton and the 
Greneral Court, after maturely considering Kieft's letter, 
Refusal of rejected the proposal to assist New Netherland with an 
ven. auxiliary force. They were prohibited, by their Articles 

of Confederation, from engaging separately in war ; and 
they were not satisfied " that the Dutch war with the In- 
dians was just." Nevertheless, if the Dutch needed corn 
and provisions, the court resolved to give them all the as- 
sistance in its power.t 
D«vrie8 At this conjuncturc, the suffering province lost one of 
Nether- its best citizcns. The bouweries where De Vries had at- 
tempted to establish colonies all lay in ashes, and the In- 
dians, whose confidence he had never lost, were " restless, 
and bent on war, or a full satisfaction." The ruined pa- 
troon determined to return to the Fatherland. A Rotter- 
dam Herring-buss, whose master, disappointed in selling 

* Hoi. Doc, iii., 116, 117 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iv., 13, 14, 22- 

t Alb. Rec, iii., 159; Trumbull, i., 139 ; iii., Mass. Hist. Coll., vii., 244. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. ^71 

his cargo of Madeira wine in New England, "because the ckap xi. 

English there lived soberly," coming through Hell-gate to 

seek a market in Virginia, anchored before Fort Amster- js sept 

dam. De Vries, accepting the schipper's invitation to pilot 

his vessel to Virginia, called on Kieft to take his leave. For 

the last time the director listened to the voice which had 

so often warned him in vain. " The murders in which you 8 octotwr. 

have shed so much innocent blood will yet be avenged 

upon your own head," was De Vries's awful prophecy, as 

he parted from Kieft, and left Manhattan forever.* 

The Eight Men soon met again. Cornells Melyn, the Meeting of 
patroon of Staten Island, was their president. The utter Men. '^ 
ruin which now menaced the province, and the cold re- 
})ulse which his application for aid had met at New Ha- 
ven, if they did not entirely overcome Kieft's jealousy of 
the popular representatives, at least prevented him from 
interfering with their purpose of communicating directly 
with their common superiors in Holland. The people of 
New Netherland had never yet spoken to the authorities 
of the Fatherland. The time had now come when their 
voice was, for the first, to be heard at Amsterdam and at 
the Hague. A letter signed by all the Eight Men, was 24 octoJxr 
addressed to the College of the XIX. In simple and pa-ieiter7othe 
thetic words the representatives of the commonalty told company.'" 
their tale of woe. How " the fire of war" had been kin- 
dled around them, their wives and children slaughtered 
or swept away captives, their cattle destroyed, their es- 
tates wasted. How famine stared them in the face ; for, 
" while the people are ruined, the corn and all other prod- 
uce burnt, and little or nothing saved, not a plough can 
be put, this autumn, into the ground." " If any provi- 
sions should be obtained from the English at the East, we 
know not wherewith we poor men shall pay for them." 
" This is but the beginning of our troubles, especially as 
these Indians kill oft' our people one after another, which 
they will continue to do, while we are burthened with our 
muskets, our wives, and our little ones."t 

* De Vries, 183. t Hoi. Doc, iii., 134-140 ; Breeden Raedt, 18. 



372 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XI. To the States General the Eight Men addressed a still 
more bold remonstrance ; for they were speaking to the 
statesmen of their Fatherland. " We are all here, from 



1643. 

3 Nov. 
Letter to 



the stVtes th® smallest to the greatest, without counsel or means ; 

General, -y^j^olly powcrlcss. The cucmy meets with no resistance. 
The garrison consists of hut fifty or sixty soldiers, without 
ammunition. Fort Amsterdam, utterly defenseless, stands 
open to the enemy day and night. The company has few 
or no effects here, as the director informs us. Were it not 
for this, there might still have been time to receive some 
assistance from the English at the East, ere all were lost ; 
but we, helpless inhabitants, while we must abandon all 
our property, are exceedingly poor. The heathens are 
strong in might. They have formed an alliance with sev- 
en other nations ; and are well provided with guns, pow- 
der, and ball, in exchange for beaver, by the private trad- 
ers, who for a long time have had free course here. The 
rest they take from our brethren whom they murder. In 
short, we suffer the greatest misery, which must astonish 
a Christian heart to see or hear." 

" We turn then, in a body, to you. High and Mighty 
Lords, acknowledging your High Mightinesses as our sov- 
ereigns, and as the Fathers of Fatherland. We suppli- 
cate, for Grod's sake, and for the love which their High 
Mightinesses bear toward their poor and desolate subjects 
here in New Netherland, that their High Mightinesses 
would take pity on us, their poor people, and urge upon, 
and command the Company — to whom we also make 
known our necessities — to forward to us, by the earliest 
opportunity, such assistance as their High Mightinesses 
may deem most proper, in order that we, poor and forlorn 
beings, may not be left all at once a prey, with women 
and children, to these cruel heathen. For, should suita- 
ble assistance not very quickly arrive, according to our 
expectations, wc shall be forced, in order to preserve the 
lives of those who remain, to remove ourselves to the East, 
among the English, who would like nothing better than 
to have possession of this place ; especially on account of 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 378 

the superior convenience of the sea-coast, bays, and large chap. xi. 
rivers, besides the great fertility of this soil — yea, this 
alone could, yearly, provision and supply with all neces- " 

saries twenty, twenty-five, or thirty ships from Brazil or 
the West Indies."* 

The same vessel that bore these dispatches convey- 
ed a distinguished passenger. Van Curler's benevolent 
visit to the Mohawk castles in the previous autumn, 
though it failed to procure the release of the French 
captives, at least prolonged the life of Father Jogues. 
Through the dreary winter, the solitary Jesuit endured Father 
hunger and cold, and the bitter contempt of the savages, among thf 
who reviled his holy zeal. Grradually they began to listen 
to his words, and receive instruction and baptism. His 
liberty was enlarged ; and twice he was taken, with the 
trading parties of the Iroquois, to the neighboring settle- 
ments of the Dutch, who welcomed him kindly, and "left 
no stone unturned" to effect his deliverance. While at 
Fort Orange on one occasion, news came that the French 
had repulsed the Mohawks at Fort Richelieu ; and the 3i Juiy. 
Dutch commander, fearing that the Jesuit Father would 
be burned in revenge, counseled him to escape. Jogues 
at length consented ; and, evading the vigilance of the 
savages, remained in close concealment for six weeks, Escapes ai 
during which Domine Megapolensis, who had become his ange. 
attached friend, showed him constant kindness. The 
wrath of the Mohawks at the escape of their prisoner 
was at length appeased by presents, to the value of three 
hundred livres, made up by the colonial authorities ; and is Sept. 
Jogues was sent down the river to Manhattan, where hehattan. 
was hospitably received by the director. 

Here he remained for a month, observing the capital of October, 
the Dutch province, now desolated by war. Fort Amister- 
dam was without ditches, and its ramparts of earth had condition 
crumbled away; but they "were beginning to face the uutch cai»- 
gates and bastions with stone." On the island of Man- ' 
hattan, and in its environs, were some four or five hund- 

* Hoi. Doc., ii., 323-328 ; O'Call., i., 289-294. 



374 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XI. red men "of different sects and nations," speaking "eight- 
een different languages." The mechanics who plied their 
Language's tradcs wcrc ranged under the walls of the fort ; all others 
i*o"n8.'^*''^ were exposed to the incursions of the savages. No re- 
ligion, except the Calvinistic, was publicly exercised, and 
the orders were to admit none but Calvinists ; " but this 
is not observed ; for there are in the colony, besides the 
Calvinists, Ciatholics, English Puritans, Lutherans, Ana- 
baptists, here called Mennonists," &c. The heart of the 
missionary was grieved at the sufferings of the Dutch, 
whose losses by the Indians were already estimated at two 
hundred thousand livres. At length the bark, in which 
jogues Kieft gave him a free passage to Europe, was ready to 
Europe, sail; and the Jesuit Father, supplied with "black clothes, 
5 Nov. and ail things necessary," gratefully took leave of the Hol- 
landers, who had shown him so much kindness.^ 
Fort Or- At this time, the West India Company's reserved Fort 
Orange was " a wretched little fort, built of logs, with 
four or five pieces of cannon of Breteuil, and as many 
Uevors- swivels." Arouud it was the hamlet of Beverswyck, 
" composed of about one hundred persons, who resided in 
some twenty-five or thirty houses built along the river, as 
each one found it most convenient." These houses were 
built of boards, and thatched ; there was no mason- work, 
except in the chimneys. In the principal house lived the 
patroon's chief officer ; " the minister had his apart, in 
Fi.'bt which service was performed." A church, however, was 

churcli at i i i • • c t-\ • -nr 

Bavere- now commcnccd, under the supervision ol Domine Mega- 
polensis, in " the pine grove," a little to the west of the 
patroon's trading house, and within range of the guns of 
Fort Orange. A burial-ground was also laid out in the 
rear, on what is now known as " Church Street." Thi.^ 
first church in Albany — the humble dimensions of which 
were only thirty-four feet long and nineteen feet wide — 
was thought sufficient to accommodate the people for sev- 

* Helation, Ifi40-I, 50, 211 ; 164a-.'?, 284 ; 1647,56,111-117; Jogues's letters of the 5th 
and .30th of August, 1643, 6th of .January, 1641, 3d of Aupuat 1646 ; Tanner, 510-531 ; ii., 
N. Y. H. S. Coll., iii. ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iv., 21-24 ; Charlevoix, i., 250 ; ante, p. 346. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 375 



164:j. 



eral years ; it could afterward " serve for the residence of chap. xi. 
the sexton, or for a school." A canopied pulpit, pews for 
the magistracy and the deacons, and nine benches for the 
people, after the fashion of the Fatherland, were soon aft- 
erward furnished, at an expense of eighty guilders.* 

The pious services of Domine Megapolensis were not, Missionao 
however, confined to his o\ati countrymen. Like his gapoujnsir 
friend, Father Jogues, he applied himself to the difficult 
task of learning the "heavy language" of the Mohawks, 
" so as to speak and preach to them fluently." The Dutch 
traders did not themselves understand the idiom of the 
savages ; and even the commissary of the company, who 
had been " connected with them these twenty years," 
could afford Megapolensis no assistance in becoming " an 
Indian grammarian." The red men about Fort Oranjje 
were soon attracted to hear the preaching of the Gospel. 
And it should be remembered that these earnest and vol- 
untary labors of the first Dutch clergyman on the northern 
frontier of New Netherland, preceded, by several years, the 
earliest attempt of John Eliot, the " morning star of mis- 
sionary enterprise" in New England, to preach to the sav- 
ages in the neighborhood of Boston.! " When we have a 
sermon," wrote Megapolensis, " sometimes ten or twelve of 
them, more or less, will attend, each having in his mouth a 
long tobacco-pipe made by himself, and will stand awhile 
and look, and afterward ask me what I was doing, and 
what I wanted, that I stood there alone, and made so many 
words, and none of the rest might speak ? I tell them 
that I admonished the Christians that they must not steal, 
nor drink, nor commit lewdness and nmrder ; and that they 
too ought not to do these things ; and that I intend after 
awhile to come and preach to them, in their country and 
castles, when I am acquainted with their language. They 
say, I do well in teaching the Christians ; but inunediate- 

* Jogues's letter of the 3il of August, 1646 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iv., 23 ; Renss. MSS. ; 
O'Call., i., 331, 459. This humble building in "the pine grove," near Church Street, ac- 
commodated the congregation until the year 1656, when a new church was erected at the 
intersection of State and North Market Streets ; post, p. 624. 

t Winthrop, 11., 297, 303-305 ; Bancroft, ii., 72, 94 ; Young's Ch. Mass., 258, note. 



376 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



1643. 



Chap. XI. ly add, Why do so many Christians do these things ? 
They call us Asspreoni, that is, cloth-makers ; or C harts- 
tooni, that is, iron- workers, because our people first brought 
cloth and iron among them."* 

The effects of the war, which was desolating the neigh- 
borhood of Fort Amsterdam, soon began to be felt at Fort 
Orange. The West India Company's magazine was no 
longer supplied with merchandise ; and the warehouse of 
the colonic of Rensselaerswyck was now the only resource 
of the fur-traders who might obtain licenses from the pa- 
ihe pa- troon. lu this respect, his mercantile policy was exclu- 
.•loBcmer- sivc, and was rigidly enforced within the colonic. Most 
I'y. of the colonists, however, were in the habit of procuring 

the patroon's licenses ; and, as early as 1640, De Vries ob- 
served that "each farmer was a trader." Throughout the 
war which was desolating southern New Netherland, the 
colonists at Rensselaerswyck felt little trouble, and enjoy- 
ed peace, " because they continued to sell fire-arms and 
powder to the Indians." This conduct was openly re- 
buked by the directors of the West India Company ; and 
it was afterward the subject of complaint on the part of 
the authorities of New England.! 

The colonists readily obtained goods on credit from the 
warehouse, to which they were obliged to bring their pur- 
chases of furs. These were shipped to Holland, and sold 
at Amsterdam, under the patroon's supervision. His share, 
at first one half, was before long reduced to a sixth, to- 
gether with the recognition of one guilder on each skin of 
the remainder. Under this system, the price of a beaver 
skin, which, before 1642, was six fathoms of wampum, 
soon rose to ten fathoms. It was now thought necessary 
that the colonial authorities should make some regulations 



* "A Short Account of ttio Miiquans Indians, <fec., written in tlie yoar 1044. By John 
Megapolonsis, junior, ministiT there." Thi.s tract was fir.st published in Dutch, at .Am- 
sterdam, l)y Joost Ilartgors, in 1(551 ; see ante, ]}. Sflfi, note. It is said to have been a 
familiar letter to his friends in Holland, and which Mogapolensis himself told Van der 
Donck was " printed without his consent." A translation, revised from that in Hazard, 
i., 517-520, will be published in ii.. N. Y. H. S. Coll., iii. 

t De Vries, 152, 158; IIol. Doc, ii., .373 ; Report and Advice, in O'Call., i., 420, App. ; 
Winthrop, ii., 84, 157 ; Ilaz.ard, ii., 19, 103, 217. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 377 

respecting this trade. The company's commissary at Fort chap. xi. 
Orange, in conjunction with Van Curler, the commissary 
of the patroon, accordingly issued a joint proclamation, 
fixing the price of a beaver skin at nine fathoms of white 
wampum, and forbidding all persons, " on pain of confis- 
cation," to "go into the bush to trade." It was also di- illicit trad- 
rected that "no residents should presume to come withited. 
their boats within the limits of the colonic ;" and a further 
proclamation declared that " no inhabitants of the colonic 
should presume to buy any goods from the residents." 
Van der Donck, "the officer" of Rensselaerswyck, was at 
the same time required to see these regulations strictly 
enforced. 

But the schout-fiscal, afraid of risking his popularity, 
would not enforce the new ordinances. A sloop arriving 
a few days afterward with some goods, the colonists, in 
spite of the proclamations, purchased what they pleased ; 
and Commissary Van Curler and Domine Megapolensis, 
sending for Van der Donck, directed him to search the van dcr 
houses of the colonists for secreted goods. But the schout faithless 
" gossipped, without once making a search." He was not 
disposed to " make himself suspected by the colonists, as 
his years as officer were few." Van Curler soon became 
unpopular. Van der Donck fomented the discontent ; and 
a protest against the obnoxious commissary was subscribed 
in a circle, " so that it should not be known who had first 
signed it." Some of the colonists were for driving him 
out of the colony as a rogue ; others wished to take his life.* 

By degrees, however. Van Curler's popularity returned ; 
and Van der Donck, finding his residence becoming dis- van der 
agreeable, determined to leave Rensselaerswyck. He solves to 
therefore went down the river to look at Katskill ; and coionie. 
made arrangements to return to Holland, and seek for 
partners "to plant a coionie there." But the patroon, 
learning Van der Donck's intention, resolved to forestall 
" his sworn officer," who had " dishonestly designed" to 
purchase the lands "lying under the shadow of his colo- 

* Renss. MSS. ; Van Curler's letter, in O'Call., i., 461, 402. 



378 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XI. nie ;" and determined to enlarge his own domain, so as to 
-„ include all the territory " from Rensselaer's Stein down to 
10 Sept. ' Katskill." Instructions were, therefore, sent to Van Curler 
to stop the schout's proceedings, and, in case he had al- 
ready acquired a title from the Indians, to constrain him 
to surrender it to the patroon. If he should prove obsti- 
nate, he was to be deprived of his office, which was to be 
conferred, provisionally, upon Nicholas Koorn. The strin- 
gent orders of his feudal chief arrested Van der Donck's 
design, and his proposed settlement at Katskill was aban- 
doned.* 

The Swedish government, in the mean time, had taken 
measures to place their colony at the South River on a 
1642. permanent footing. In the summer of 1642, the queen 
16 August, appointed John Printz, a lieutenant of cavalry, to be 
" Grovernor of New Sweden," which was declared to be 
under the royal protection. The territory was defined as 
extending " from the borders of the sea to Cape Hinlopen, 
in returning southwest toward Godyn's Bay, and thence 
toward the great South River as far as Minqua's Kill, 
where is constructed Fort Christina, and from thence 
again toward South River, and the whole to a place which 
the savages call Sankikan,t which is at the same time the 
place where are the limits of New Sweden." Of these 
John frontiers, Printz was instructed " to take care ;" yet, if 
pointed possible, to maintain amity and good neighborhood with 
governor, the Dutch at Fort Nassau, "now occupied by about twen- 
ty men," as well as with " those established higher up the 
North River at Manhattan, or New Amsterdam, and like- 
wise with the English, who inhabit Virginia, especially 
because the latter have already begun to procure for the 
Swedes all sorts of necessary provisions, and at reasonable 
prices, both for cattle and grain." Toward the colonists 
under Joost de Bogaerdt good-will was to be shown. 
Printz mij^ht choose his own residence where he should 



* Renss. MSS. ; O'Call., i., 3n, 338. 339, 462. 

t The fiills at Trenton, in New Jersey, sometimes written Santickan ; ante, p. 282 ; il., 
N. Y. H. S. Coll., i., 409 ; ii., 283. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 379 

find it most convenient ; but he was to pay particular at- chap. xi. 

tention that the South River " may be shut," or com- ~~~. 

164 
manded by any fortress which he might erect. The trade 

in peltries with the Indians was not to be permitted to any 
persons whomsoever, except to the agents of the Swedish 
Company. Detailed instructions were also given for the 
internal government of the colony ; and Divine service was 
enjoined, "according to the true Confession of Augsburg, 
the Council of Upsal, and the ceremonies of the Swedish 
Church." The Dutch settlers, however, were not to be 
disturbed " with regard to the exercise of the Reformed 
religion." The governor's appointment was for three 
years, at an annual salary of twelve hundred silver dol- 
lars, commencing on the first of January, 1643. The 
Swedish government furnished officers and soldiers, and so August, 
passed an ordinance assigning upward of two millions of 
rix dollars, to be collected annually from the excises on 
tobacco, for the support of the government of New Sweden.* 
Under such auspices, Printz sailed from Grottenburg late 
in the autumn of 1642, with the ships "Fame" and 1 Nov. 
"Stork," and accompanied by the Reverend John Cam- 
panius as chaplain. Early the next year, the expedition 164-3. 
reached Fort Christina.! Desiring to control the trade of p^mz ar- 
the river, and be as near as possible to the Dutch at FortKonchns- 
Nassau, Printz chose for his own residence an island on""" 
the west shore, then called by the Indians " Tenacong," 
now known as Tinicum, near Chester, about twelve miles 
below Philadelphia. Upon this island a " pretty strong" 
fort, named " New Gottenburg," was promptly construct- Buiirting or 
ed of heavy hemlock logs. A mansion called " Printz Gotten-"" 
Hall" was built for the governor ; orchards were planted ; "'^^ 
and the principal colonists took up their abode at Tini- 
cum. Toward Fort Ciiristina there were a few scattered 
farms ; but between Tinicum and the Schuylkill there 
were no plantations. t 

' Hazard's Reg. Penn., iv. ; Ibid., Ann. Penn., 63-69. t Campanius, 70. 

t Acrelius ; Hudde's Report ; ii., N Y. 11. S. Coll., i., 411, 429 ; Ferris, 62, 6S ; Haz- 
ard's Ann. Penn., 70. Rcoru.s Torkillus, the clergyman who had accompanied Miiinit to 
New Sweden in 1638, died at Fort Christina on the 7th of September, 1643, soon after the 
arrival of Prinlz. — Campanius, lOV, 109. 



,380 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

<:nAP. XI. Printz now hoped to secure to himself all the Indian 
~~ trade against the competition of the Dutch. Still more 
Printz's effectually to "shut up" the river, in the course of the fol- 
noys"the^" lowi^g summcr he erected another fort " with three an- 
uuirh. gles," called " Elsingburg," upon the east shore of the 
bay near Salem Creek, from which the New Haven in- 
truders had just before been expelled. The new fort was 
garrisoned by twelve men commanded by a lieutenant, 
and was armed with eight iron and brass twelve-pound 
guns. At this place all vessels coming up the river were 
compelled to lower their colors, and stop, until permission 
to proceed had been obtained from the governor at Tini- 
cum.* 
DeVriesat Tlic Swcdish garrisou had an early opportunity of dis- 

the South . . . . .. TA IT • , r r Tiir 

River. playmg their visrilance. De Vries, on his way from Man- 

13 October. 1^ -^ " ^ , t^ i 

hattan to Virginia, put into the South River ; and, as the 
Rotterdam vessel passed by Fort Elsingburg, a gun was 
fired for her to strike her flag. Blanck, her schipper, ask- 
ed De Vries his advice. "If it were my ship, I should 
not strike," was the reply ; " for I am a patroon of New 
Netherland, and the Swedes are mere intruders within 
our river." But the schipper, wishing to trade, lowered 
his colors. A boat from the fort immediately visited the 
vessel, which sailed up to Tinicum the same afternoon. 
At Fort New Grottenburg, the Dutch were welcomed by 
the governor, who " was named Captain Printz, a man of 
brave size, who weighed over four hundred pounds." 
Learning that De Vries was the patroon of the first Dutch 
colonic at Swaanendael, Printz pledged him in " a great 
romer of Rhine wine ;" and the Dutch vessel continued 
five days at the fort, trading confectionary and Madeira 
wine for beaver skins. After a short visit to Fort Nassau, 
where he found the West India Company's people in gar- 
19 October, risou, De Vries accompanied the Swedish governor down 
the river to Fort Christina, where there were now several 
houses. Having spent the night with Printz, who " treat- 
so October, ed him well," De Vries bade farewell to his Swedish host, 

* De Vries, 184, 185; Hudde's Report, 482; IIoI. Doc, viii., 32,50. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 381 

for whom he fired a parting salute, as the Dutch vessel chap. xi. 
sailed onward to Viro^inia.* 



Kieft's attention was soon afterward drawn to a new„, , . 

Plowden s 

and unexpected claim to the ownership of a part of New ^ew ai- 
Netherland. An English knight, Sir Edmund Plowden, ''''"'• 
calling himself Earl Palatine of New Albion, arrived at 
Manhattan from the South River, and boldly affirmed that 
all the land from the west side of the North River to 
Virginia was his, by gift of the King of England. Plow- 
den's claim rested upon a patent issued at Dublin by the 1634. 
Viceroy of Ireland, to whom the knight addressed him-"'^""*' 
self after Charles I. had refused him a charter under the 
G-reat Seal of England. By his Irish patent, Plowden 
was invested with the title and dignity of " Earl Palatine" 
of the Province of New Albion, which, under a vague and 
imperfect description, seems to have been meant to include 
most of the territory between Cape May, Sandy Hook, and 
the Delaware River, now forming the State of New Jer- 
sey. Under this worthless charter, issued by a Viceroy 
of Ireland, who had no authority to grant territorial rights 
in America, Plowden set sail for Delaware Bay ; but, 
" wanting a pilot for that place," he went to Virginia. 
From there he visited the South River. But becoming 
" very much piqued" with the Swedish governor, John 
Printz, " on account of some affront given him, too long 
to relate," he proceeded northward to Manhattan. The 1643. 
pretensions of the titular Earl Palatine of New Albion 
were, however, entirely disregarded by Kieft. Plowden, 
nevertheless, warned the dkector that, " when an oppor- 
tunity should offer," he would go to the South River and 
take possession ; while, at the same time, he assured Kieft 
that he "did not wish to have any strife with the Dutch." 

* De Vries, Voyages, 184, 185. We must here take leave of the blunt mariner, whose 
original journal has been so pleasant a guide. De Vries was emphatically a man of the 
people ; ever opposing arbitrary power ; biased, perhaps, in some of his opinions and 
statements ; hut frank, honest, religious, and a sincere advocate of the true interests of 
New Netherland. After spending the winter in Virginia, De Vries sailed for Holland, 
where he arrived in June, 1644. He seems never to have revisited America. His un- 
pretending and simply-written work was published at Alckmaer, in 1655, illustrated by 
a well-engraved portrait of the author, taken in 1653, when he was sixty years of age. 
See ante, p. 156, note. 



382 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



Chap. XI, 



1643. 



George 
Lamljerton 
arrested by 
}'rintz. 
July. 



21 Sept. 
Action of 
tlie New 
Kn^land 
commis- 
Bioners. 



The disappointed Earl Palatine presently returned to Vir- 
ginia ; and though he came to Manliattan several yeara 
afterward, and reasserted his claim to New Albion, no 
actual settlement under his insufficient title appears ever 
to have been made within the territory of New Nether- 
land.* 

If the proceedings of Printz excited the animosity of the 
Dutch at Manhattan, his arbitrary conduct was not less 
annoying to the New England Puritans. Lamberton, not- 
withstanding the warning he had received the previous 
year, persisting in revisiting the Delaware in a New Ha- 
ven pinnace, was induced, by the Swedish governor, to 
land at Fort New (Tottenburg, where he was instantly im- 
prisoned, with two of his men. Printz began to ply one 
of these men with strong drink and liberal promises, to 
influence him " to say, that George Lamberton had hired 
the Indians to cut off the Swedes." But the governor 
could not persuade his prisoner to perjure himself; and 
in his vexation, " he put irons vipon him with his own 
hands." According to Winthrop's account, Printz was "a 
man very furious and passionate, cursing and swearing, 
and also reviling the English of New Haven as runa- 
gates,"! &c. 

When Eaton's statement of this transaction reached 
Boston, the commissioners of the United Colonies instruct- 
ed their president to write to Printz, "expressing the par- 
ticulars, and ref[uiring satisfaction" for the "foul injuries" 
offered to Lamberton and the New Haven people on the 
Delaware. A commission was also given to Lamberton, 
" to go treat with the Swedish governor about satisfac- 
tion for those injuries and damages, and to agree with 
him about settling their trade and plantation. "t But 



* IIol. Doc, iv., Tl ; ii., N Y. 11. S. Coll., ii., 270 ; Alb. Rec, iii., 224 ; xviii., 349 ; Hai- 
ard's State Papers, i., 100-174 ; S. Hazard's Ann. Penn., 36-38, 108-112; VVintbrop, ii., 
325. The subject of Plowdeu's claim to New Albion has been considered in C. King's 
Address, in Proc. N. J. II. S., i., 39-42 ; Pennington's " Examination of Beaucliamp Plan- 
tagenet's Description of New Albion ;" Mulfonl's New .lersey, 66-74 ; and in Mr. Miir- 
phy'.s very excellent note to the '• Verloogh van N. N.", in ii., N. Y. II. S. Coll., ii., 323-32C. 

t Winthrop, ii., 130, 140, 141 ; John Thickpunny's Deposition, in New Haven Col. Rec, 
1., 97-99 ; S. Haiard'.s Ann. Penn., 74-76. t Hazard, ii., 11 ; Winthrop, ii., 140. 



I 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 383 

Printz, on his part, met the charges of the New Haven chap. xi. 
people with a positive denial. At the meeting of the G-en-~~~ 
eral Court of Massachusetts in the following spring, the 7 ^^gh 
Swedish governor, to rebut the English version of the case, 
" sent copies of divers examinations upon oath taken in 
the cause, with a copy of all the proceeding between them 
and our friends of New Haven from the first ;" and in his 
letters "used large expressions of respect" for the English. 
G-overnor Eaton, on behalf of New Haven, desiring a new 
commission "to go on with their plantation and trade in 
Delaware River and Bay," the court granted it, but "with 
a salvo jurey-^ 

The Boston merchants now began to covet a participa- Exploring 
tion in the fur trade on the Delaware. It was imagined sent from 
in Massachusetts, that the chief supply of beavers came the south 

. . River. 

from a " great lake, supposing it to lie in the northwest 
part" of their patent ; and this lake, which they named 
" Lake Lyconnia," it was now thought should be " dis- 
covered." A well-manned pinnace, laden with provisions March. 
and merchandise, was therefore dispatched from Boston, 
with a commission under the public seal, and letters from 
Winthrop to the Dutch and Swedish governors. The ex- 
ploring party were instructed " to sail up the Delaware 
River so high as they could go ; and then some of the 
company, under the conduct of Mr. William Aspenwall, a 
good artist, and one who had been in those parts, to pass, 
by small skiffs or canoes, up the river so far as they 
could."! 

* Winthrop, ii., 157. The commissioners, in a letter to Stuyves&nt, of the 16th of Sep- 
tember, 1650, and again, in their Declaration of Grievances of April, 1653, charge Jansen, 
the Dutch commissary at Fort Nassau, with combining with Printz In his proceedings 
against Lamberton, in 164.3, and with sitting "as one of the judges in court with the 
Swedish governor."— Hazard, ii., 164, 214. Trumbull repeats the story with some em- 
bellishments, and erroneously refers it to the year 1642. — Trumbull, i., 122. But the de- 
position of Thickpenny, quoted above, says not a word about Jansen's complicity ; and 
WInthrop's contemporary account (ii., 140, 141), while it alludes to the Dutch agent's pro- 
ceedings at the Varkens' Kill, in 1642, refers all the " foul injuries" offered to Lamberton 
to " the Swedish governor" alone. 

t Winthrop, ii., 160, 161. This exploring expedition shows the ignorance of the geog- 
raphy ofllie interior of New Netherland, which so long prevailed among the Dutch and 
the English. On Van der Donck's map, which was published in 1656, a lake is laid 
down, somewhere about what is now known as the Delaware Water-gap, through which 
the river is represented as flowing. The French, in Canada, knew more about the beau- 
tiful lakes of New Netherland than did either the Dutch or the English. 



384 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XI. But the expedition failed. Kieft protested against their 
proceeding, and sent orders to Jansen, at Fort Nassau, 
Failure of " not to let them pass." The pinnace arrived at Fort El- 
[foTu'''"^'*^' singburg " on the Lord's day," and the Swedes, firing a 
shot, forced her to anchor lower down. Eventually, the 
English vessel was suffered to pass : but both Printz and 
Jansen forbade the adventurers to trade with the Indians, 
" and for that end each of them had appointed a pinnace 
to wait upon" the Boston craft. Her master, however, 
"proved such a drunken sot, and so complied with the 
Dutch and Swedes," that the adventurers, fearing that if 
they should leave their vessel to go up to the lake in a 
small boat, " he would, in his drunkenness, have betrayed 
their goods to the Dutch," gave up their expedition, and 
20 July, returned to Boston. The owners of the pinnace, on their 
arrival home, recovered two hundred pounds damages from 
the master, " which was too much, though he did deal 
badly with them, for it is very probable they could not 
have proceeded." Yet this verdict did not prevent the 
commissioners of the United Colonies, several years after- 
ward, from disingenuously alleging the conduct of the 
Dutch authorities as the cause of the failure of the expe- 
dition.* 
October. The following autumn another bark '-was set out from 

Boston, to trade at Delaware." After wintering in the 
bay, she went over to the "Maryland side" in the spring, 
where in three weeks " a good parcel" of five hundred 
.\nother bcavcr skins was procured. As the bark was about leav- 
pedition ing, fifteen Indians came aboard, " as if they would trade 
the sav- again," and suddenly drawing forth " hatchets from un- 
der their coats," killed the master and three others, and 
rifled the vessel of all her goods and sails, taking pris- 
oners a boy and " one Redman," the interpreter, who was 
suspected of having betrayed his countrymen. Printz, 
hearing of the outrage, which seems to have been perpe- 
trated in the neighborhood of De Vries's unfortunate col- 
ony at Swaanendael, procured the delivery of the prison- 

* Winthrop, ii., 161, 179, 187; Hazard, ii., 214. 



MKPS. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 385 

ers to him at Fort New Gottenburg. From there they chap. xi 
were sent by way of New Haven to Boston, where Red- 
man was tried for his life, and found guilty.* '' 

The pertinacious interference of the New England col- The Dutch 
onists with the trade on the Delaware was as grievous an swedes oj.- 
annoyance to Printz as to Kieft. The Dutch, as the first gUsh inter- 
explorers and possessors of the South River, unwillingly nie soiuii 
saw their monopoly invaded by the Swedes ; but when 
the English attempted to divide with them the prize, the 
Swedes were found acting in concert with the Dutch to 
repel the new intrusion. In Holland, the question of sov- 
ereignty was suddenly raised by the arrival of two Swed- October, 
ish ships, " The Key of Calmar" and the "Fame," which 
Printz had dispatched home with large cargoes of beaver 
and tobacco. Stress of weather, and perhaps apprehen- Question 
sion, owing to the war which had just broken out between eignty rais- 
Sweden and Denmark, induced the masters of these ves- land. 
sels to run into the port of Harlingen, in Friesland. Here 
the ships were seized-by order of the West India Compa- 6 October. 
ny, who, claiming sovereignty over all the regions around 
the South River of New Netherland, exacted the impost 
duties and additional recognitions, to which their charter 
entitled them. Against these exactions Speringh, the 8 October. 
Swedish minister at the Hague, instantly protested to the 
States Greneral. A long correspondence ensued, which 
resulted in the discharge of the ships, the next summer, 
upon payment of the impost duties alone. The compa- 
ny's additional recognition of eight per cent, was waived ; 
and the question of the right of sovereignty was left un- 
settled.! 

In the mean time, Kieft, disappointed in obtaining as- 164S. 
sistance fi-om his English neighbors, had been forced tol^^ft-s 
draw a bill of exchange on the directors of the West India p^para- 
Company, in favor of some merchants of Amsterdam. J a Nov. 
Strict discipline was enjoined upon the heterogeneous 
forces which were now mustered at Manhattan ; and Van 

* Winthrop, ii., 203, 204, 236, 237. 

t Hoi. Doc., ii., 340, 342, 350 ; iii., 1, 3, 13 ; Alb. Rec., xvii., 321. 

Bb 



386 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XI. dcr Huygens, the schout-fiscal, was commanded to exe- 
cute his duties without fear or favor, and to repress, with 
all the force of the province, the irregularities which a 
state of war necessarily produced. The refusal of New 
Haven left New Netherland to her own resources, and the 
spirit of the people rose with the occasion. It was now 
determined that offensive measures should be taken against 
December, the savagcs. Couusclor La Montagne was accordingly dis- 
Expedition patched to Statcu Island with a force of three companies. 
Itatenisi- forty Dutch burghers under Captain Kuyter, thirty-five 
English colonists under Lieutenant Baxter, and several 
regular soldiers under Sergeant Cock. Crossing over from 
Manhattan in the evening, the expedition spent the whole 
night in scouring the island. The Indians kept out of the 
way ; hut five or six hundred scheples of corn were se- 
cured, and brought back to Fort Amsterdam.* 

The Connecticut Indians in the vicinity of Stamford 
had now become still more hostile, and Mayano, a fierce 
Indian hos- chicf, wlio lived a little to the east of Green wich, boldly 
Greenwich, attacked a party of " three Christians," whom he acci- 
dentally met returning home. One of the party was 
killed ; but the other two overpowered the savage and 
cut off his head, which Captain Patrick immediately sent 
to Fort Amsterdam, with an account of what the colo- 
nists at G-reenwich had already suffered from the chief 
and his tribe. When Patrick and his friends submitted 
themselves to the jurisdiction of New Netherland, the 
year before, it was upon condition of being " protected 
against their enemies as much as po.ssible." Good faith 
now required that this condition should be fulfilled ; and 
icxpedition Kicft instantly sent the forces which had just returned 
Manhattan from Statcu Islaud, to the assistance of the loyal English. 
En-iish Leaving Manhattan in the morning, in three yachts, the 

settlers. ,. ? , , ^ • n • i • a ii i 

expedition reached G-reenwich in the evening. All the 
next night was spent in marching through the country in 
search of the enemy. But none was found ; and the 
wearied detachment reached Stamford in no good humor. 

* Alb. Rec, ii., 212, 236, 250 ; ill., 169 ; IIol. Doc, iii., 117 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y.. iv., 14. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 387 

One of the Dutch soldiers meeting Patrick at Captain Un- chap. xi. 
derhill's house on Sunday, " in the time of afternoon ex- 
ercise — for he seldom went to the public assemblies" — 2 January 
charged him with treachery, in causing one hundred and p'X^^k 
twenty men to come from Fort Amsterdam on a fool's er- '""''^<"''*^'^- 
rand. Patrick resented the nettled soldier's charge with 
" ill language," and spit in his face. As he was turning 
to go out, the Dutchman " shot him behind in the head, 
so he fell down dead, and never spake." The murderer 
was seized, but he escaped from custody.* 

The expedition, however, was not entirely unsuccessful. 
Four of the Stamford people volunteered to find out the 
retreat of the savages ; and, upon their intelligence, some 
twenty-five picked men of the detachment surprised a 
small Indian village, where they killed eighteen or twenty 
warriors, and took an old man, two women, and several 
children prisoners. To win favor, the captured old man 
offered to lead the Dutch against the Weckquaesgeeks, Expedition 
who were reported to be intrenched in three castles ; and weck- 
Baxter and Cock, with a detachment of sixty-five men, geeks. 
were sent to West Chester. The expedition found the 
castles strongly constructed and well adapted for defense, 
built of thick timbers nine feet high, bound with heavy 
beams, and pierced with loop-holes. In one of these cas- 
tles, thirty Indians might defend themselves against two 
hundred Europeans. But all the savages were gone, and 
their fortresses deserted. Two of these were burned by 
the Dutch, who reserved the third as a retreat in case of 
emergency ; and the expedition, after marching some for- 
ty miles further, killing one or two Indians, and destroy- 
ing all the corn and wigwams they found, returned to Fort 
Amsterdam with a few women and children as prisoners.! 

The accounts which Underhill had communicated toEn?''?^ 

from Stam- 

his townsmen at Stamford of the local advantages of New '"'"■'' ^°^°" 

o nize Heem- 

Netherland, and the personal knowledge which John Og- fon'^'isi"- 
den had gained at Manhattan, had meanwhile induced ^°'^- 

* Winthrop, ii., 151 ; Hoi. Doc, iii., 118 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iv., 14 ; ante, p. 331. 
f Hoi. Doc, iii., 119, 120 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iv., 15. 



;J8H HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ciiAi-. XI. several of them to visit Long Island ; and arrangements 
were made, in the autumn of 1643, to secure from the 
Dutch provincial government a grant of lands at Heem- 
stede. This portion of Long Island had been so named 
by the Dutch after the " neatest and most important vil- 
lage" on the island of Schouwen, in Zealand. Early in 
1644, Robert Fordham and several others came over with 
their families from Stamford, and established themselves 
at Heemstede, which soon became known as " Mr. Ford- 

16 Nov. ham's plains." The next autumn, Kieft granted to Ford- 
ham, Ogden, Lawrence, and their associates, a liberal pat- 
ent for " the great plains on Long Island, from the East 
River to the South Sea, and from a certain harbor, now 
commonly called and known by the name of Heemstede 
Bay, and westward as far as Martin G-erritsen's Bay." 
The patentees were authorized " to use and exercise the 
Reformed religion which they profess," to nominate their 
own magistrates for the approval of the director of New 
Netherland, and generally to manage their own civil af- 
fairs. A quit-rent of a tithe of the produce, to begin ten 
years " from the day the first general peace with the In- 
dians shall be concluded," was reserved to the West India 
Company.* 

Hostility of Scarcely had the Stamford emigrants settled themselves 

iiians. at Heemstede, before Penhawitz, the great sachem of the 
Canarsees in that neighborhood, who had hitherto been es- 
teemed friendly to the Dutch, was suspected of treachery ; 
and several of his tribe were charged with secret hostili- 
ties against " the Christians." Seven savages were ar- 
rested by Fordham, on a charge of killing two or three 
pigs, " though it was afterward discovered that his own 
Englishmen had done it themselves." Fordham, however, 
informed Kieft that he ha^ arrested the savages, and con- 
fined them in a cellar ; but that he "dared not treat them 
inhumanly, as he could not answer for the consequences 

* Thompson's Long Island, ii., 4, 5; Denton's N. Y., p. 6, and Furman's notes; 
O'Call., i., 317 ; Martinet's Beschryvinge, iii., 318. John Ogden, one of the Heemstede 
patentees, was a contractor for building the church in Fort Amsterdam, in 1642 ; ante, p. 
336. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 389 

to his own people." La Montagne was therefore sent ciur. xi. 
against the Canarsees, with a force of one hundred and' 



twenty men ; Dutch burghers under Kuyter, English Expedition 
auxiliaries under Underhill, and regular soldiers under jjg"'j^°tpjp 
Cock and Van Dyck. The expedition sailed in three 
yachts to Sellout's or Cow Bay, where the forces were 
landed without molestation. Marching at once to Heem- 
stede, Underhill killed three of the seven savages whom 
Fordham had confined in the cellar, and took the other 
four prisoners. The forces were then divided into two 
parties. With some fourteen Englishmen, Underhill at- 
tacked the smaller Indian village ; while La Montagne, 
with the main body of eighty men, advanced against the 
larger settlement at Mespath. Both parties were entirely 
successful. The villages were surprised ; one hundred 
and twenty savages were killed ; while the assailants lost 
only one man, and had three wounded. On the return of 
the expedition, two of the savages whom Underhill had 
taken at Heemstede, were conveyed to Fort Amsterdam, 
where the triumph of the victors was disgraced by atro- 
cious cruelties. One of the prisoners, fris^htfullv wounded Atrocities 

at Maiihat- 

by the "long knives" with which the director had armed tan on the 
the soldiers in place of swords, at last dropped down dead the forces. 
as he was dancing the " Kinte-Kaeye," or death-dance of 
his race. The other, after undergoing even more shocking 
mutilation, was taken out of the fort by Kieft's orders, and 
mercifully beheaded on a mill -stone in "the Beavers' 
Path," now Beaver Lane, near the Battery. These bar- 
barities are said to have been witnessed by the director, 
and Counselor La Montagne. Some of the female sav- 
ages who had been taken prisoners in West Chester, stand- 
ing at the northwest angle of the fort, saw the bloody spec- 
tacle, and, throwing up their arms, and striking their 
mouths, called out, in their own language, " Shame ! 
shame ! What disgraceful and unspeakable cruelty is this ! 
Such things were never yet seen or heard of among us."* 
The Dutch forces were now in great distress for want 

* Hoi. Doc, iii., 121, 122; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iv., 15, IG ; Breeden Raedt, 19, 20. Thia 



390 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XI. of clothing. At this conjuncture, a ship, which the pa- 
troon of Rensselaerswyck had dispatched from Holland 
The Dutch the previous autumn, with a cargo of goods for his colony, 
wanTof '" arrived at Manhattan. Necessity pressed ; and Kieft im- 
ciothing. mediately called upon Peter Wynkoop, the supercargo, to 
furnish fifty pairs of shoes for the soldiers, offering full 
payment " in silver, beavers, or wampum," But the su- 
percargo, with more regard for his patroon's mercantile in- 
terests than for the necessities of a suffering soldiery, re- 
siippiyob- fused to comply with the director's requisition. Kieft 

tained from .1 iirii 1 t ^ 

a private promptly Ordered a forced levy ; and enough shoes were 
Manhattan, taken from the patroon's ship to supply as many soldiers 
as afterward " killed five hundred of the enemy." The 
provoked director then commanded the ship to be thorough- 
ly searched, and a large supply of ammunition and guns, 
8 March, uot included in the manifest, being found on board, they 
were declared contraband, and the ship and cargo were 
confiscated.* 
February. Underbill had, meanwhile, been sent to Stamford to re- 
connoitre the position of the savages. On his return to 
March. Manhattan, he was dispatched, with Ensign Van Dyck 
expedition and ouc hundred and fifty men, in tliree yachts, on a new 
ford. expedition against the Connecticut Indians. Landing at 
Greenwich, the forces marched all the next day through 
the snow, crossing, on their way, steep rocky hills, over 
which the men crawled with difficulty. About midnight, 
the expedition approached the Indian village. The night 
was clear, and the full moon threw a strong light against 
the mountain, " so that many winters' days were not 

latter autliorily, however, states the date of these transactions as April, 1644. In the in- 
terrogatories proposed to Van Tienhovon, on the 21st of July, 1650, by the committee of the 
States General, the atrocities perpetrated upon the two Heenistcdc prisoners, and the 
presence and conduct of Kietl and La Montague on the occasion, were specially inquired 
into.— Hoi. Doc, v., 312, 320, 321 ; O'Call., i., 300. Winthrop, ii., 157, speaks of the 
news of Underhill's Long Island expedition reaching Boston in March, 1644. 

* Alb Rcc, ii., 214, 277 ; Renss. MSS. ; O'Call., i., 342. Winthrop, ii., 157, says that 
this ship was sent " to the fVcc boors at Fort Orange," and had on board " four thousand 
weight of powder, and seven hundred pieces to trade with the natives, which the Dutch 
governor having notice of, did seize and confiscate to the use of the company." Savage, 
in his note, seems to have misapprehended the character of the ship. The vessel was 
actually " not sent by the company, but by some private men," as Winthrop had originally 
written it in his journal. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 391 

brighter." The village contained three rows, or streets chap. xi 
of wigwams, and was sheltered, in a nook of the mount- 
ain, from the northwest winds. The Dutch troops, find- pestruc- 
ing the Indians on their guard, charged, sword in hand, J'°j)j|'n'J3". 
upon the fortress. But the savages, emholdened by their '''°^' 
superior numbers — for the village was crowded with In- 
dians, who had assembled " to celebrate one of then* fes- 
tivals" — made a desperate resistance. " Some said that 
there were full seven hundred, among whom were twen- 
ty-live Wappingers." Several bold sallies were attempted, 
but every effort to break the Dutch line failed. Not a 
savage could show himself outside the palisades without 
being shot down. In an hour, one hundred and eighty 
Indians lay dead on the snow. The arrows of the be- 
sieged now beginning to annoy the Dutch, Underbill, 
remembering Mason's experiment at the Mistic, resolved 
to set the village on fire. The horrors of the Pequod 
massacre were renewed. As the wi-etched victims en- 
deavored to escape, they were shot down or driven back 
into their burning huts. The carnage was almost com- 
plete. Upward of five hundred Indians perished by sword 
or by flame : of all who had crowded that devoted village 
at nightfall, but eight escaped. Fifteen of the Dutch sol- 
diers were wounded. The victors kindled large fires, and 
bivouacked on the crimsoned snow. In the morning, the 
expedition set out on its return, marching "over that weari- 
some mountain, Grod affording extraordinary strength to 
the wounded," and the next afternoon it reached Stam- 
ford, where the soldiers were hospitably entertained by the 
English. Two days afterward, the triumphant forces 
reached Fort Amsterdam ; and Kieft proclaimed a public Thanksgiv. 
thanksgiving for the brilliant victory which his troops had chfime'd at 

1 . I M, Manhattan 

achieved.* 

* Hoi. Doc, iii., 121-126 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iv., 16, 17 ; O'Call., i., 302 ; ii., 571 ; Ban- 
croft, ii., 293. " The traditionary account of the battle on Strickland's Plain, preserved by 
Trumbull, i., 161, and repeated, but not confirmed, by Wood, can not be quite accurate ; 
at least, as to time." The battle happened in 1644, not in 1646, as Trumbull erroneously 
supposes. Winthrop (ii., 157) alleges, that the employment of Underbill by Kieft was " a 
plot of the Dutch governor to engage the English in that quarrel with the Indians, which 
we had wholly declined, as doubting the justice of the cause." 



392 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XI. Spring had now begun ; and some of the hostile tribes 

which had felt the power of the Dutch, wishing peace, ap- 

Peace with plied to Underbill to interfere in their behalf. In a few 

('hesteT/' days, Mamaranaclv, the chief of the Croton Indians, and 



and Lon 
Islam 

tribes. 



Island other chiefs from the Weckquaesgeeks, and from the tribes 



6 April north of G^reenwich and Stamford, came to Fort Amster- 
dam, and concluded a peace with the Dutch. They pledged 
themselves not to do any further damage to the colonists 
of New Netherland or their property ; to visit Manhattan 
only in canoes as long as the savages on the island should 
continue hostile ; and to deliver up Pacham, the faithless 
chief of the Tankitekes. On the other hand, Kieft prom- 
ised them his friendship ; and, in token of his sincerity, 
15 April, released several of the captured prisoners. The next week, 
Gronwarrowe, the sachem of the Mattinnecooks of Flush- 
ing, Cow Bay, and the neighborhood, warned by the les- 
son which the Long Island Indians had received at Heem- 
stede and Mespath, came to Manhattan and solicited a 
peace. The sachem assented to the conditions which Kieft 
imposed ; and upon his promise that none of the neighbor- 
ing tribes should do any harm to the Dutch, or assist their 
enemies, he was dismissed with some presents, and en- 
joined to communicate the provisions of the treaty to the 
sachem on " Mr. Fordham's plains."* 

Though the Dutch arms had now humbled a distant 
enemy, and the semblance of a peace had been arranged 
with the West Chester and Long Island savages, the prin- 
cipal enemies of the Dutch, nearer to Manhattan Island, 
remained hostile. The scouting parties of the red men 
prowled unopposed about the very precincts of Fort Am- 
Fencc or- stcrdam. For the protection of the few cattle which re- 
built at mained to the decimated population, "a good solid fence" 
.•)! Manh. ' was ordcrcd to be erected, " from the great bouwery across 
to the plantation of Emanuel," nearly on the site of the 
present Wall Street. All persons who wished their cattle 
to be pastured in security, were warned to appear with 
proper tools and assist in erecting the fence ; those who 

* Alb. Rec, ii., 247, 248 ; O'Call., i., 303. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 393 

failed to give their aid were to be excluded from the priv- chaf. xi. 

ilexes of the inclosed meadow.* "TTTT" 

1644 
The precaution was necessary. If Kieft had earned hostile 

the detestation of the Dutch colonists, he was even more th^River 
hated by the savages, who remembered Van Twiller's pa- '"•^'^"'^ 
cific rule, and called for the removal of his violent suc- 
cessor. "Their daily cry every where was 'Wouter, 
Wouter' — meaning Wouter van Twiller."t Throughout 
the whole summer, the settlements at Manhattan and its 
neighborhood were constantly in danger of utter destruc- 
tion. " The savages were unopposed ; and, as soon as they 
had " stowed their maize into holes," they began again to 
murder the Dutch. The ruined commonalty was unable 
to meet the expenses of the soldiery ; and the West India 
Company, made bankrupt by its military operations in tuc \ve<.t 
Brazil, could furnish no assistance to its desolated prov- pany i>ank- 
ince. The bill of exchange, which Kieft had drawn upon 
the Amsterdam Chamber the previous autumn, came back 
protested. Soon afterward, the privateer La Gfarce, with 
which the director had commissioned Captain Blauvelt to 
cruise in the West Indies, returned to Manhattan with two ay May. 
valuable Spanish prizes. But ready money was wanted 
at once ; and pressing necessity could not brook the slow 
proceedings of the Admiralty Court.t 

Kieft was, therefore, obliged to convene the Eight Men is June. 
once more. He laid before them a statement of the des- Men again 
titution of the provincial treasury ; and to raise a revenue 
for the payment of the English soldiers, he proposed to 
levy an excise on wine, beer, brandy, and beaver. The 
Eight Men, however, opposed the proposition, on the oppose an 
double grounds that an excise, in the ruined condition of liquors. 
the people, would be oppressive, and that the right of tax-, 
ation was an attribute of sovereignty which the West In- 
dia Company might indeed exercise, but which their sub- 
ordinate officer in New Netherland had no authority to 
assume.^ 

* Alb. Rec, ii., 246 ; Hildreth, i., 425. t Hoi. Doc, ii., 378. 

t Alb. Rec, ii., 250, 251, 257 ; iii., 212 ; Hoi. Doc, iii., 210 ; O'Call., i., 296, 306. 
I) Hoi. Doc, iii., 215, 216. 



394 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

CHAP. XI. The director was " very much offended" at the honest 
opinion of the Eight Men; and, "in an altered mood," 
K^ft'ssu- sharply reprimanded the representatives of the people. "I 
conduct"^ have more power here than the company itself," said Kieft 
to the contmnacious burghers, in the presence of La Mon- 
tagne and the fiscal Van der Huygens; " therefore I may 
do and suffer in this country what I please ; I am my own 
master, for I have my commission, not from the company, 
but from the States Greneral." The Eight Men still en- 
deavored to avert the obnoxious excise fi-om pressing on 
the commonalty at large ; and proposed, instead, that the 
private traders, who were amassing fortunes while the 
colonists were ruined, should be taxed. But Kieft was 
immovable.* 
•ii June. Three days afterward, he issued a proclamation, " with- 

irariiyim- out the knowledge of the Eight Men," reciting that all 
excise on other mcaus having failed to provide for the expenses of 
the war, it had, " by the advice of the Eight Men chosen 
by the commonalty," been determined " to impose some 
duties on those wares from which the good inhabitants will 
suffer the least inconvenience, as the scarcity of money is 
very general." It was therefore ordained, "provisionally, 
until the good Grod shall grant us peace, or we shall be 
sufficiently aided from Holland," that on each barrel of 
beer tapped an excise duty of two guilders should be 
paid, one half by the brewer, and one half by the public- 
an — burghers not retailing it, however, to pay only one 
half as much ; on every quart of brandy and wine, four 
stivers, and on every beaver skin one guilder.t 
Discontent Tlic coHimonalty openly expressed their discontent, 
monaity. Kieft, attributing much of the ill feeling to the popular 
.representatives, who had opposed the tax, sent for Kuyter, 
Melyn, and Hall, to confer with them respecting the ob- 
30 June, noxious exactious. But the Eight Men found that they 
were in " little repute" with the director, who left the 
three representatives of the people to sit in his hall, from 

* Hoi. Doe., iii., 217. 

t Hoi. Doc., iii., 130-132, 217, 218. The original of this order was in Kieft's hand- 
writing. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 395 

eight o'clock until past noon, without a word being said chap. xi. 

to them, and, finally, to return in disappointment " as wise 

xi r* 1d44. 

as they came.' * 

While New Netherland was despairing of relief from 
Holland, unexpected aid came from the West Indies. One Arrvai of 
hundred and thirty Dutch soldiers, who had been driven curacoa"' 
by the Portuguese out of Brazil, coming to Cura^oa, where 
the inhabitants did not need, and could not maintain 
them, were promptly sent to Manhattan, in the ship " Blue 
Cock," by order of Peter Stuyvesant, the company's direct- 
or. Kieft immediately called a meeting of the council, at Juiy. 
wjiich were also present Oudemarkt, the captain of the 
Blue Cock, and Jan de Fries, the commander of the new- 
ly-arrived troops. It was determined to retain De Fries 21 juiy. 
and his command at Manhattan, and to dismiss the En- 
glish auxiliaries "in the most civil manner." The soldiers 
were to be billeted on the commonalty, according to the 
circumstances of each one ; and the company was to make 
recompense whenever it could. As there was no clothing 4 August. 
in the company's warehouse for these troops, the council 
was again convened, and it was resolved that the excise The beer 
duties, which had been "provisionally" imposed, should forced. 
be continued. Besides paying an excise of three guilders 
on every tun of beer, the brewers were now required to 
make a return of the exact quantity they might brew.t 

But the brewers sturdily refused to pay this unjust The brew- 
tribute. The first excise had been imposed " provision- to pay. 
ally," until relief should arrive ; relief had arrived, and 
the excise, instead of being discontinued, was made more 
onerous ; the company was bound to furnish clothing to 
its troops, as much as it was bound to furnish ammuni- 
tion and guns ; and, above all, the exaction was an arbi- 
trary act of the dependents of the West India Company, 
and against the consent of the representatives of the com- 
monalty, who, in the present instance, had alone the right 
to impose the tax. The refractory brewers were sum- 

* IIol. Doc, iii., 192 ; Vertoogh van N. N., ut sup., 295 ; O'Call., i., 307, 308. 

t Alb. Rec, ii,, 260, 264, 265 ; xii., 49-55 ; Hoi. Doc, iii., 187 ; Winthrop, ii., 179. 



[]QQ HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XI. iTioned before the council. "Were we to yield, and pay 
— ; the three florins," said they, " we should offend the Eight 
i/Au"ust ^'^^^ ^^^ ^^^ whole commonalty." But judgment was 
25 August, recorded against them; and their beer was "given a prize 

to the soldiers."* 
Tho people Thc pcoplc had now learned another lesson in political 
ii'i'e brew- rights — thc IcssoH of resistance. From this time forward 



ers 



party spirit divided the commonalty. The Eight Men 
represented the Democratic sentiment of the majority of 
the people ; the parasites of arbitrary power took part with 
the director. " Those who were on his side could do noth- 
Party spirit ing amiss, howcvcr bad it might be ; those who were op- 
tan posed to him were always wrong in whatever they did 
well." Kieft's jealousy even made him suspicious of his 
own partisans, who held communication with " impartial 
persons." Throughout nearly the whole summer, private 
quarrels and prosecutions occupied the mind of the director, 
to the exclusion of more important subjects ; and six weeks 
were frittered away in trying an unfortunate smuggler of 
pearls, who was eventually banished.! 

The Eight Men counseled active measures against the 
savages ; for they had been " greatly gladdened by the 
miraculous arrival of the Blue Cock," and "expected that 
the field would be taken with between three and four hund- 
Kicit's red men."t But "nothing in the least" was done. Dur- 
niactivity. ing tlic wholc summcr, "scarce a foot was moved on land, 
or an oar laid in the water." Some of the Indian prison- 
ers, who might have done good service as guides, were 
sent to the Bermudas, " as a present to the English gov- 
ernor." Others were given to the " oldest and most ex- 
perienced soldiers," who were improvidently allowed to 
return to Holland. In the mean time, the savages were 
quietly left to fish and secure their crops, and no opposi- 

* Alb. Rcc, ii., 265-207 ; Vcrtoogh van N. N., 295 ; Bancroft, ii., 304 ; O'Call., i., 311. 

t Alb. Roc, ii. ,201, 202 ; IIol. Doc, iii., 210 ; Vertoogh van N. N., 295 ; Brceden Rae(lt,24. 

t According to IIoI. Doc, iii., 187, there was now at Manhattan an available force o( 
four hundred and eighty men, of whom one hundred and thirty had arrived in the " Blue 
Cock ;" forty-five were old soldiers, fifty were English auxiliaries, fifty-five were sailors, 
and two hundred were burghers, or freemen. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 397 

tion being offered, they soon showed themselves more chap. xi. 

"bold and insolent" than ever before. The " semblance ~77T~ 

1644 
of peace," which Underbill had " patched up" in the 

t^pring, bore but little fruit. Parties of Indians roved 

about, day and night, over Manhattan Island, killing the 

Dutch not a thousand paces from Fort Amsterdam ; and 

no one dared " move a foot to fetch a stick of fire- wood 

without a strong escort."* 

Finding Kieft's censurable inactivity still continuing, 
Cornelis Melyn, the president of the Eight Men, address- 6 August. 
ed an earnest letter to the States Grcneral, urging them to 
interfere in behalf of the province ; and, at the same time, 
wrote to his friend Van der Horst, to exert, in favor of the 
people of New Netherland, all the influence which he pos- 
sessed with the company. Two others of the Eight Men, 
Hall and Dircksen, in person protested strongly to Kieft 
against his neglect of duty. The director, at last aroused The direct- 
to action, dispatched Captain De Fries with a party of the expedition 
Cura9oa soldiers toward the north. Eight savages were north. 
slain ; but, said the men, " for every new enemy we kill, 
another stands next morning in his place." And the col- 
onists, finding the summer and autumn nearly gone, now 
began to anticipate the severities of a winter's campaign, 
and being forced to wade "through rivers and creeks, in 
frost and snow, with their new and naked soldiers, who 
had resided in warm climates for so many years."! 

The condition of public affairs had now come to such 
pass, that the Eight Men determined boldly to demand 
the recall of Kieft, and to insist upon the introduction into 
New Netherland of the municipal system of the Father- 
land. It was ascertained at the same time, that Kieft, in 
his letters to the College of the XIX., " was endeavoring 
to shift upon the commonalty the origin and cause of the 
war."-t The eight popular representatives, therefore, ad- as October, 
dressed a second memorial to the West India Company, 
tlrawn up, in simple but expressive language, by Andries 

* Hoi. Doc, iii., 206-210. t Ibid., ii., 346 ; iii., 212. 

t Breeden Raedt, 21. 



West India 
Company. 



398 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XI. Hudile, the town surveyor of Manhattan.^ " Our fields 
lie fallow and waste," said the Eisrht Men; "our dwell- 
Memorial ^^n^ ^^^ otlier buildings are burnt ; not a handful can be 
Men'to^th" ©ither planted or sown this autumn on the deserted places ; 
the crops which God permitted to come forth during the 
past summer remain on the fields standing and rotting ; 
we are burthened with heavy families ; we have no means 
to provide necessaries for wives or children ; and we sit 
here amidst thousands of Indians and barbarians, from 
whom we find neither peace nor mercy." " There are 
among us those who, by the sweat and labor of their 
hands, for many long years have endeavored, at great ex- 
pense, to improve their lands and villages ; others, with 
their private capital, have equipped with all necessaries 
their own ships, which have been captured by the enemy, 
though they have continued the voyage with equal zeal, 
and at considerable cost. Some, again, have come hither 
with ships independent of the company, freighted with a 
large quantity of cattle, and with a number of families ; 
who have erected handsome buildings on the spots se- 
lected for their people ; cleared away the trees and the 
forest ; inclosed their plantations, and brought them un- 
der the plough, so as to be an ornament to the country, 
and a profit to the proprietors, after their long, laborious 
Kiea'scon- toil. The whole of these now lie in ashes through a fool- 
liewed ish hankering after war. For all right-thinking men here 
know that these Indians have lived as lambs among us, 
until a few years ago ; injuring no man ; affording every 
assistance to our nation ; and, in Director Van Twiller's 
time (when no supplies were sent for several months), 
furnishing provisions to several of the company's servants, 
until, as they state, they received supplies. These hath 
the director, by various uncalled-for proceedings, from time 
to time so estranged from us, and so embittered against 
the Netherlands nation, that we do not believe that any 
thing will bring them and peace back, unless the Lord, 
who bends all men's hearts to his will, propitiate their 

* IIol. Doc, lii., 204. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 399 

people." " Little or nothing of any account has been done chap. xi. 
here for the country. Every place is going to ruin. Nei-~~ 
ther counsel nor advice is taken. Men talk of nothing else 
but of princely power and sovereignty, about which La 
Montague argued a few days ago in a tavern, maintain- 
ing that the power of the director here was greater, so far 
as his office and commission were concerned, than that of 
his highness of Orange, in the Netherlands." After giv- 
ing many details of the origin and progress of the war; of 
the proceedings of the Twelve Men ; of the election of the 
Eight Men ; of their treatment by Kieffc ; and of their ef- 
forts to prevent the imposition of the obnoxious excise du- 
ties ; they warned the directors against relying upon the Kieft's mis- 
statements about the war, contained in a "book" orna-tions. 
mented with water-color drawings, which Kieft had sent 
over. " It contains," said the Eight Men, " as many lies 
as lines, as we are informed by the minister, and by those 
who have read it." And, with respect to the statements 
in that "book," about the animals and the geography of 
New Netherland, " it would be well to inquire how the 
director general can so aptly write about those distances 
and habits, since his honor, during the six or seven years 
he has been here, has constantly resided on the Manhat- 
tans, and has never been further from his kitchen and bed- 
room than the middle of the aforesaid island." 

" Honored Lords" — so the Eight Men boldly concluded 
their memorial — " this is what we have, in the sorrow of 
our hearts, to complain of; that one man who has been 
sent out, sworn and instructed by his Lords and Masters, 
to whom he is responsible, should dispose here of our lives 
and property according to his will and pleasure, in a man- 
ner so arbitrary, that a King would not be suffered legally 
to do. We shall end here, and commit the matter wholly 
to our G-od, who, we pray and heartily trust, will move 
your Lordships' minds and bless your Lordships' deliber- 
ations, so that one of these two things may happen — either 
that a Governor may be speedily sent with a beloved peace 
to us, or that their Honors will be pleased to permit us to 



400 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XI. rctum, with wives and children, to our dear Fatherland. 
For it is impossible ever to settle this country until a dif- 
The direct- fercnt system be introduced here, and a new G-overnor be 
oemaNdcd. ^^ut out wlth more people, who shall settle themselves in 
suitable places, one near the other, in form of villages and 
hamlets, and elect, from among themselves, a bailiff, or 
schout, and schepens, who shall be empowered to send 
deputies to vote on public affairs with the Director and 
Council ; so that hereafter the Country may not be again 
brought into similar danger."* 
Frecirad- In the mean time, notwithstanding all the attempts to 
.seiaeis- restrain it, an illicit traffic continued to be carried on at 
Rensselaerswyck. During the last year, neither the com- 
pany nor the patroon had " scarcely any trade," while fully 
three or four thousand furs had been conveyed away by 
unlicensed traders. " It would be very profitable," wrote 
Van Curler, " if your Honor could bring about, with a 
higher hand, that the residents should not come to the 
colonic to trade." The patroon, following Van Curler's 
susfsrestion, determined to act " with a hicrher hand." 
He therefore drew up, in the form of a protest, a state- 
ment of the grievances he had suffered from the free trad- 
ers, who trafficked against his will with the savages, and 
even " sought to debauch and pervert" his own colonists. 
Feeling that he was the " first and oldest" patroon on the 
North River, he resolved that no one should "presume to 
abuse" it, to the injury of his acquired rights ; and accord- 
rort jt ingly caused a small fort to be erected on Beeren Island, 
an"*^" '^ at the southern frontier of the colonie. This post, which 
commanded both channels of the river, was named "Rens- 
Tiie pa- selaer's Stein." A claim of " Staple right" was set up : 
.laimsa and Nicholas Koorn was appointed " Wacht-meester," 
rigiii." with directions to levy a toll of five guilders upon all ves- 
sels, except those of the West India Company, passing up 
or down the river, and to cause them to strike their colors 
in homage to the feudal merchant-patroon.t 

* Breeder! Raedt, 21 ; IIol. Doc. iii., 206-222 ; and in O'Call., i., 312-317. 

t Alb. Rec, iv., 26, 46 ; Rcnss. MSS., in O'Call., i., 465-467. Koorn had fomnerly been 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 401 

The arrogant pretension was soon asserted. The sum- chap. xi. 
mer that the post was established, as Grovert Loocker- 
mans, in his yacht, the G-ood Hope, was passing down the j^^y 
river from Fort Orange to Manhattan, "a gun without J;°'J|g''%: 
ball" was fired from Rensselaer's Stein ; and Koorn cried g^op^at'" 
out to the schipper, " Strike thy colors !" " For whom shall iae"flteiii. 
I strike ?" replied Loockermans. " For the staple right 
of Rensselaer's Stein," answered Koorn from the shore, 
" I strike for nobody but the Prince of Orange, or those 
by whom I am employed," retorted the independent 
Loockermans, as his yacht slowly kept her course. Koorn 
immediately fired several shots : " the first," says the rec- 
ord, " went through the sail, and broke the ropes and the 
ladder ; a second shot passed over us ; and the third, fired 
by a savage, perforated our princely colors, about a foot 
above the head of Loockermans, who kept the colors con- 
stantly in his hand."* 

The commander of Rensselaer's Stein was immediately 2 August. 
summoned before the council at Fort Amsterdam, to an- troou'a offi- 
swer for this bold proceeding. Though he pleaded his pa- moned to 
troon's authority, damages were adjudged against him, 
and he was forbidden to repeat his offense. Van der Huy- 
gens, the schout-fiscal of New Netherland, at the same 
time formally protested against the "lawless transactions" October. 
of the patroon's Wacht-meester. The establishment on 
Beeren Island, it was alleged, was beyond the limits of 
Van Rensselaer's colonic ; and " the bold attempt to con- 
struct there a fort which might command the river, and 
debar Fort Orange from the free navigation, would be ruin- 
ous to the interests of the company." Koorn, however, protest of 
feeling his importance, promptly replied to Van der Huy- mand'e'r of 
gens' protest. "I call on you," said he, " not to presume i^w'^stein 
to oppose and frustrate my designs on the Beeren Island, ^^'^°^' 
to defraud me in any manner, or to cause me any trouble, 
as it has been the will of their High Mightinesses, the 

a sergeant in the West India Company's service at Fort Amsterdam, where, in December, 
1638, he was tried, and sentenced to be reduced to the ranks. — Alb. Rec, ii., 35, 36. 
* Alb. Rec, ii., 192, 234, 263 ; iii., 219 ; ii., N. Y. H. S. Coll., i., 379, 380. 

C c 



402 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XI. States General, and the privileged West India Company, 
to invest my patroon and his heir with the right to extend 
■ and fortify his colonie, and make it powerful in every re- 
spect." " I protest against the act of violence and assault 
committed by the Honorable Lords Majors, which I leave 
them to settle between themselves and my honorable pa- 
troon, inasmuch as this step has been taken to keep the 
canker of free-traders out of his colonie."* 

Another occasion happened, this summer, to test the 
April. active benevolence of the Dutch. Father Joseph Bressani, 
Bressani whilc ou his Way from Quebec to the Huron country, was 
the Mo^-'^''^ captured on the Saint Lawrence, by a war party of the Ir- 
oquois, and conveyed a prisoner to the Mohawk castles. 
There he suffered even more horrid tortures than those 
which Jogues had undergone two years before. Yet his 
life was spared ; and an old squaw, to whom he had been 
given, took him to the "nearest habitation of the Hol- 
landers," who, by a large contribution, " satisfied the sav- 
ages," and ransomed the suffering Jesuit missionary. Aft- 
Ransomed er being nursed and clothed at Fort Orange, he was sent 
Dutch. down the river to Manhattan. There he was hospitably 
received by Kieft, who caused him to be supplied with 
clothes, and provided him, as he had Jogues, with a pas- 
sage to Europe. The director and council also issued a 
passport, recommending Bressani to the Christian charity 
20 Sept. of those into whose hands he might happen to fall ; and 
the grateful Jesuit, sailing from Manhattan, safely reached 
Rochelle toward the end of November. Thus the influ- 
ence which the Dutch possessed among the Iroquois was 
effectively used in the cause of humanity ; bigotry was 
forgotten, while the warm gratitude of the Roman Cath- 
oraiitude olics was securcd ; and in after years, the Viceroys of Can- 
ada author- ada did not fail to acknowledge, with characteristic court- 
esy, the ancient kindness of the colonists of New Nether- 
land toward the devoted captive missionaries of France.! 

♦ Alb. Rec, iii., 187, 188 ; ii., N. Y. H. S. Coll., i., 380, 381 ; IIol. Doc, v., 364 ; ii., N 
Y. H. S. Coll., ii., 330 ; O'Call., i., 344, 345 ; Bancroa, ii., 304. 

t Relation, 1643-44; Creuxius, 395-403; Charlevoix, i., 258-260; Bancroft, iii.. 134; 
O'Call., i., 337 ; Lond. Doc, ii., 196 ; N. Y. Col. MSS., iii., 153 ; Macerata Rel., 16.53. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 403 

Meanwhile, the disastrous affairs of their suffering prov- chap. xi. 
inoe had attracted the grave attention of the Dutch gov- ~ 
ernment. The letter which the Eight Men had sent over j^^^.^^j 
in the autumn of 1643, was no sooner received by the^^^^^^^ 
States Greneral than it was referred to the College of the tht^vtit^ 
XIX., with directions to adopt prompt measures for the re-J^^^'f ^'"" 
lief of New Netherland. But the West India Company ^ ^J'"' 
was now almost bankrupt ; and the directors, totally un- 
able to defend their American colonies, were chiefly anx- 
ious to save themselves from utter ruin by forming a union 
with the flourishing and powerful East India Company. 
In reply to the mandate of the States G-eneral, they avow-asApni. 
ed their sympathy with the " desolate and miserable" col- 
onists of New Netherland ; but " the long-looked-for profits 
thence" had not come, and they had no means at hand 
of sending relief " to the poor inhabitants who have left 
their Fatherland." And the bankrupt company urged the 
States General for a subsidy of a million of guilders, to 
place it "in good, prosperous, and profitable order."*' 

The States Greneral directed copies of the company's 27 April, 
application to be communicated to the several States of 
the provinces. Before any thing was done, however, Me- 
lyn's urgent letter coming to hand, was immediately re- 20 October, 
ferred to the delegates to the approaching meeting of the 
College of the XIX. The delegates were also instructed 22 October. 

1 1 r- 11 1 1 The States 

to inform themselves fully about the condition of the prov- General re- 

. . quire a lull 

ince, and especially to examine into the propriety of re- report on 

^ r •> r f J tl,e state of 

stricting the internal trade of New Netherland to the resi- '^e prov- 

~ ince. 

dents, as well as into the policy of opening a free trade 
between Manhattan and Brazil. A full report upon the 
whole subject was required to be made to the States Gren- 
eral.t 

At the meeting of the College of the XIX., the affairs 
of New Netherland were fully discussed. The second 28 October 
bold appeal, which the Eight Men addressed to the com- 
pany in the autumn, reached the meeting at an opportune 
moment. It was now felt that the commonalty were in 

* Hoi. Doc, ii., 329, 330, 332 ; ante, p. 372. t Ibid., ii., 337, 346, 348. 



I 



404 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XI. earnest. Either a new director must be speedily sent 

" with a beloved peace" to New Netherland, or the colo- 

■ nists there must "return with their wives and children to 

10 Dec. their dear Fatherland."* Kieft's recall was, therefore, de- 

Kieffs re- . ' ' 

call decided termmed upon. But the appointment of a proper success- 
or was a difficult question. Lubbertus van Dincklagen, 
who had been dismissed from office by Van Twiller in 
1636, had for eight years unsuccessfully urged his claims 
for arrears of salary. He was, however, "well liked by 
the Indians," and his former experience in New Nether- 
van Dinck- land rccommcnded him for promotion. Van Dincklagen 
visfona[iy was, therefore, provisionally appointed to succeed Kieft as 
to succeed dircctor. The XIX. also resolved to refer all the papers 
10 Dec relating to New Netherland to the company's recently-or- 
ganized " Rekenkamer," or Bureau of Accounts, with in- 
structions to prepare a full report upon the condition of the 
province, and recommend measures for its profit and ad- 
vancement.t 
15 Dec. In a few days the Rekenkamer presented a detailed re- 

port, which was communicated to the States Greneral. This 
98 Dec document is one of the most important State Papers relat- 
ihs compa- ing to Ncw Ncthcrlaud. Beginning with a sketch of its 
reauofAc- history, from its discovery by the Dutch, through the im- 
portant epochs of the organization of the company, the set- 
tlement of the first colonists under May, the establishment 
of patroonships, the opening of the fur trade, the abuses 
which followed, the breaking out of the Indian war, and 
of the deplorable ruin which succeeded, the various reme- 
dial measures suggested by Kieft and by the commonalty 
were concisely stated. The director counseled the ex- 
termination of the Indians, whom he estimated to be only 
three hundred strong, and asked for a hundred and fifty 
armed soldiers and munitions of war. The commonalty, 
on the other hand, supposing the savage forces to amount 
to several thousands, advised a peace. But "of this they 
have but little hope, as long as the present administration 
remains there." 

* Hoi. Doc, ii., 221 ; ante, p 398. t Ibid., ii., 362, 364. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 405 

From all these statements, the Rekenkamer inferred chap. xi. 
that their American province had fallen into ruin and 
confusion by Kieft's unnecessary war, "without the gjatg ^f the 
knowledge, and much less the order of the XIX., and p'^'''""'^^ 
against the will of the commonalty there." According to 
the books of the Amsterdam Chamber, New Netherland, 
in place of being a source of profit, had cost the company, 
from 1626 to 1644, inclusive, " over five hundred and fif- 
ty thousand guilders, deducting the returns received from 
there." But as the charter of "Freedoms and Exemp- 
tions" had promised to protect and defend the colonists, 
and as improvements in the management of the province 
were not beyond hope, " the company can not decently or 
consistently abandon it." 

The Bureau of Accounts, therefore, recommended a se- Recom- 
ries of propositions to the company. The boundary should or the 
be at once established between the Dutch and English, of Accounts 
as, in consequence of their population, they "usurp daily lief of New 

Ncthsr- 

more of our territory." Kieft's advice to exterminate the land. 
Indians should "by no means be adopted;" but the opin- 
ion of the commonalty should be followed, and the sav- 
ages appeased. It would also be proper "to order hith- Kieft to be 
er the director and council, who are responsible for that'^'^'^^ ^ 
bloody exploit of the twenty-eighth of February, 1643, to 
justify and vindicate their administration before the noble 
Assembly of the XIX." The colonists should be settled Hamiets to 
in towns, villages, and hamlets, "as the English are in iz^ed."^^*^" 
the habit of doing." Fort Amsterdam, to save expense. Fort Am- 
should be repaired " with good clay and firm sods," and be^^alred. 
a garrison of fifty-three soldiers be constantly maintained. 
The annual salary of the director should be three thousand 
guilders, and the expense of the whole civil and military 
establishment of New Netherland twenty thousand guild- 
ers. A council of three persons should be established, councu to 
composed of the director as president, and the second and j'z'ed^'"^^^"' 
fiscal as counselors adjunct. By this council all cases of 
police, justice, dignity, and the rights of the company 
should be decided. In criminal cases, the military com- 



406 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XI. mandaiit should take the place of the fiscal, and " two 
~ capable persons from the commonalty" should be added. 
■ As, by the twenty-eighth article of the "Freedoms," each 
colonie was allowed to depute one or two persons every 
year to represent it at Manhattan, it was now recommend- 
ed, " that the said delegates should, moreover, assemble 
every six months, at the summons of the director and 
council, for mutual good understanding, and the common 
advancement of the welfare of the inhabitants." Amster- 
dam weights and measures should be used throughout 
New Netherland. The population of the country should 
be strengthened, and the island of Manhattan first of all 

Lands to be be occupicd, by offering free grants of land to emigrants. 

p-Tnted. As many negroes should be introduced from Brazil as the 
patroons, colonists, and farmers " would be willing to pay 
for at a fair price." The Indian trade should be reserved 
exclusively to the patroons, colonists, and free farmers ; 

No fire- but no fire-arms should be sold to the savages. Each col- 

amis to be . iii ii-i ii- if-i 

sold to the onist should be oblio^ed to supply himseli with a musket 

savages. . o I r ^ 

Colonists to and side-arms; and the director should cause an inspec- 

bB armed. 

Trade with tion to bc made every six months. A trade should be al- 
encoarag- lowcd with Brazil : fisheries, and the manufacture and 

ed 

exportation of salt, should be encouraged ; for while the 
colonists thus gained advantage, the company would be 
relieved from large expenses. In order to defray the ad- 
ditional cost of the proposed establishment for New Neth- 
erland, it was estimated that an increasing population 
and a growing trade would readily yield a handsome rev- 
Racogni- cuue from the recognitions and tolls upon exports and im- 
onforced. ports ; but to coUect these, vigilance should be enjoined, 
and the duties of the revenue officers " should bc sharply 
attended to."* 

* Hol. Doc, ii., 368-395 ; O'Call., i., 349-354, 41S-424. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 4O7 



CHAPTER XII. 
1645-1647. 

The Indian war, which Kieft's recklessness had pro- chap. xu 

voked, was now about to end. During five years, New 

Netherland had known hardly five months of peace. Man- j. ^ l:^' 
hattan was nearly depopulated ; while the Indian nations '"'''''" ^"^ 
around were still thousands strong, and New England al- 
ready contained more than fifty thousand souls. Too late 
Kieft perceived his error ; for a stern voice of warning had 
come from the Amsterdam Chamber, and the conscience 
of the director smote him, as he foresaw the end of his 
rule over the noble province whose interests he had sac- 
rificed. 

With the opening of the spring, the Indians, who were 
anxious to plant their corn, desired a peace. Delegates 
from several of the neighboring tribes came to Fort Am- 
sterdam ; and Kieft eagerly concluded a truce with the 22 April. 

. Treaty 

warriors. The people rejoiced at the prospect of the end with some 
of dangers of which they were weary, and " a grand sa-tnbes. 
lute of three guns" was fired from the fort. But many 
of the savage nations were still hostile. Kieft therefore, 
by the advice of his council, determined to engage some 
of the friendly Indians in the interests of the Dutch, and 
Wliiteneywen, the sachem of the Mockgonecocks on Long 
Island, was dispatched, with several of his warriors, "to 24 May. 
beat and destroy the hostile tribes." The sachem's diplo- 
macy, however, was better than violence. In a few days, 
he returned to Fort Amsterdam, bearing friendly messa- 
ges from the chiefs of the tribes along the Sound and near 
Rockaway, and a pledge that they would no longer " in- 



408 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XII. jurc the Christians." A formal peace was ratified by the 
exchange of tokens of eternal friendship, and Whiteney- 

Peace with wcn, the amhassador sachem, was dismissed with liberal 

IsfandTav- presents.* 

ages. Kieft now, for the first time, went up the river to Fort 

Orange, with La Montagne, to secure the friendship of the 

luiy. powerful Mohawks. Aided by the influence of the offi- 

v.'ith the cers at Rensselaerswyck, a treaty was soon arranged with 

and other the IroQuois delegates, and with the Mahicans and the 

tribes at o ' 

Fort Or- otlior neig^hborinff tribes. The lanoTiawes of these tribes 
were various, and the negotiations were conducted with 
the assistance of the Indian interpreter Agheroense, "who 
was well known to the Cliristians." Presents were again 
exchanged in ratification of the peace ; and Kieft's em- 
barrassment for the want of money was relieved by Van 
der Donck, and other inhabitants of Rensselaerswyck. 
But a chemical analysis of some native mineral, with 
which the savages painted their faces, raised hopes in the 
director's mind that he had now found the way to wealth.! 
The treaty at Fort Orange was followed, before long, by 
a general peace with the tribes in the neighborhood of 

•29 August. Manhattan. The citizens were summoned to assemble at 
Fort Amsterdam, at the ringing of the bell and the hoist- 
ing of the colors, to hear the proposed articles read ; and 
they were assured that " if any one could give good ad- 
vice, he might then declare his opinions freely." The 
project of the treaty was almost unanimously approved. 

* Alb. Rec, ii., 298-301 ; O'Call., i., 354. One of the guns bursting when the salute 
was fired, Jacob Jacobsen Roy lost an arm, in spite of the skill of Surgeon Hans Kiersted. 

t Alb. Rec, viii., 79, 80. Van der Donck, in his Description of N. N., p. 29 (ii., N. Y. 
H. S. Coll., i., 161), refers particularly to this treaty, and describes a curious incident 
connected with it. One morning, the Indian interpreter, Agheroense, " who lodged in 
the director's house, came down stairs, and in the presence of the director and myself 
sat down, and began stroking and painting his face. The director, observing the opera- 
tion, asked me to inquire of the Indian what substance he was using, which he handed 
to me, and I handed to the director. After he had e.xamincd it attentively, he judged, from 
its weight and its greasy lustre, that it must be some valuable mineral. So we commuted 
with the Indian for it, in order to see what it was. We acted with it as we best could, 
under the direction of a certain Johannes la Montagne, doctor in medicine, and counselor 
in New Netherland, a man of intelligence, who had some knowledge or science in these 
matters. To be brief; it was put into a crucible, and after it had been thought to be long 
enough in the fire, it was taken out, and two pieces of gold were found in it, which were 
both judged to be worth about three guilders. This proof was at first kept very still." 



I 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 409 

No one dissented but " Hendrick Kip, a tailor," one of the chap. xii. 
sturdy burghers who had wished to depose Kieft two years 
before. On the following day, the appointed meeting with 30 a^^I 
the red men was held. In front of Fort Amsterdam, un- 
der the open sky, in presence of the sun and the ocean, 
on the spot " where the commerce of the world may be 
watched from shady walks," the sachems of the Hackin- 
sacks and Tappans, the delegates from Long Island, and 
the Mahican chief who spoke for the Weckquaesgeeks, 
Sint-Sings, and other river tribes, all acknowledging the 
Iroquois Confederacy, which was represented by Mohawk 
ambassadors, as witnesses and arbitrators, seated them- 
selves, in grave silence, in presence of the director and 
council of New Netherland, and the commonalty of Man- 
hattan, and, solemnly smoking the great calumet of peace, General 
pledged themselves to eternal amity with the Dutch, pe'ifce at 
Each party bound itself to an honorable observance of the sterdam. 
treaty. In cases of difficulty with " the Christians," the 
savages were immediately to apply to the authorities at 
Fort Amsterdam ; should an Indian be the aggTCssor, the 
Dutch were to complain to his sachem. No armed In- 
dian was thereafter to approach the houses of the Chris- 
tians on Manhattan; and no armed European was to visit 
the villages of the savages, unless with a native escort. 
With benevolent consideration, the Dutch pressed for and 
obtained from the savages the promise to restore the cap- 
tive grand-daughter of Anne Hutchinson. The promises 
of the savages were faithfully performed. Joy succeeded 
sadness in the devastated province, on the ratification of 
the great Indian Treaty of Fort Amsterdam. On the mor- 31 August, 
row, a placard was issued, directing the observance of the tion for a 
sixth of September as a day of general thanksgiving in thanksgiv- 
the Dutch and English churches, " to proclaim the good 
tidings throughout New Netherland."* 

Thus peaceful days revisited the Dutch province. But 
the sting of war remained. In two years, sixteen hundred 

* Alb. Rec, ii., 312-317 ; ii., N, Y. H. S. Coll., i., 275, 276, 278 ; Winthrop, ii., 267 ; 
Bancroft, ii., 292 ; O'Call., i., 354-357 ; ante, p. 356, 36(1 



410 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XII. savages had been killed ; at Manhattan, and in its neigh- 
borhood, scarcely one hundred men, besides traders, could 
Condition ^® found. The church, which had been begun in 1642, 
Dutih remained unfinished. The money which the impoverished 
Province, commoiialty had contributed to build a common school- 
house, had " all found its way out," and was expended 
for the troops. Even the poor-fund of the deaconry was 
sequestered, and applied to the purposes of the war. Be- 
yond Manhattan, almost every settlement on the west side 
of the North River, south of the Highlands, was destroyed. 
The greater part of the western territory of Long Island 
was depopulated. West Chester was desolated. In all 
the province, the posts on the South River and the colonie 
of Rensselaerswyck alone escaped the horrors of war. The 
work of regeneration was now to be begun.* 
Kiefi pur- Kieft's attention was first given to securing the Indian 

chases 

lands on title to the lands in the neighborhood of Manhattan which 
and for ihe had uot yct been ceded to the company. A few days aft- 

company. '' iiirii 

10 Sept. er the peace, a tract extending along the bay of the North 
River, from Coney Island to Gowanus, now known as New 
Utrecht, was purchased from the Long Island Indians, and 
became part of the public domain of the province. This 
purchase completed the title of the West India Company 
to most of the land within the present counties of Kings 
and Q,ueens. 

19 October. The ncxt month, Thomas Farrington, John Lawrence, 

Settlement n ■ i ^ 11 -n 1 • i 

of Flush- John Townsend, Thomas btiles, and several other Jingiish 
emigrants, obtained from the director a patent for about 
sixteen thousand acres, to the eastward of Doughty's ruined 
settlement at Mespath. The territory which was chosen 
by the new colonists was named Vlissingen by the Dutch, 
after one of the principal sea-port towns in Zealand. The 
patentees received a grant of municipal privileges, similar 
to those which their countrymen had before obtained from 
the provincial authorities of New Netherland ;t and the 
foundations of the present flourishing village of Flushing 

* Breeden Raedt, 19 ; Ilol. Doc, iii., 369 ; iv., 41 ; ii., N. Y. II. S. Coll., ii., 292, 331 
t Thompson's L. I., ii., 68, 69 ; O'Call., 1., 357 ; post, p. 537. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 41 1 

were happily laid, in one of the most fertile regions of chap. xii. 
Loncf Island. 

The English colonists, who had been driven by the sav- colonists 
ages from their settlement at Mespath, returned to their j^gg'^j'^ 
desolated homes soon after the peace was concluded. But 
discords soon broke out among them. Doughty, who had 
been liberally treated by the Dutch at Manhattan, exhib- 
ited signs of covetousness soon after his return to Mespath, 
where he would allow no one to build, unless upon exor- 
bitant terms of purchase and quit-rent. His associates, 
who did not wish " to hinder population," were opposed to 
this policy ; and Smith and others complained to the di- 
rector and council at Manhattan. Upon a hearing of the 
case, the court decided that "the associates might enter case of 
upon their property" — the farm and lands which Doughty Doughty, 
had in possession being reserved to him individually. 
From this decision. Doughty gave notice of an appeal to 
the Court of Holland, which, however, Kieft would not al- 
low. " His sentence," he said, " could not be appealed 
from, but must avail absolutely ;" and Doughty was con- 
demned to be imprisoned twenty-four hours, and to pay a 
fine of twenty-five guilders. Not long afterward, he re- Doughty 
moved to the neighboring settlement at Flushing, where Fiushrrfg ° 
he became the first clergyman of the English colonists, at 
an annual salary of six hundred guilders.* 

Lady Moody, who had so bravely repelled the attacks 
of the Indians during the war, was now complimented by i9 Dec. 
Kieft with a patent, granting to herself. Sir Henry Moody Moody's 
her son. Ensign G-eorge Baxter, and Sergeant James Hub- cfrave- "^"^ 
bard, that portion of Long Island adjoining Coney Island, 
upon which she lived, called by the Dutch " G-ravesande," 
and now known as Gravesend. The patentees were as- 
sured "the free liberty of conscience, according to the 
custom and manner of Holland, without molestation or dis- 
turbance from any magistrate or magistrates, or any other 
ecclesiastical minister that may pretend jurisdiction over 

* Breeden Raedt, 24, 25 ; Vertoogh van N. N., and Corte Bericht, in ii., N. Y. H. S. 
Coll., ii., 301, 302, 333 ; Thompson's Long Island, ii., 70. 



412 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XII. them." They were also liberally allowed " to erect a body 
~ politic and civil combination among themselves, as free 
men of this province and town of (jrravesend," and invest- 
ed with all "the immunities and privileges already granted 
to the inhabitants of this province, or hereafter to be grant- 
ed, as if they were natives of the United Belgic Provinces." 
Loyalty to the Dutch authorities was required ; and the 
use of the " New Style," and of the weights and measures 
of New Netherland, alone enjoined.* 

.Minerals Soou after thc pcacc was made with the Fort Orange 

discovered 

near Fort Indians, Kieft, in pursuance of orders he had received from 

July. Holland to ascertain the mineral riches of the province, 
sent an officer and several men to the hill, where he was 
told the substance was to be found which La Montague 
had supposed to be gold. The party brought back a buck- 
et full of earth and stones, upon which several experiments 
were made, " all with the same result as the first." The 

31 August, next month, when the general treaty was made at Fort 
Amsterdam, some of the savages exhibited several speci- 

Among the mcus of minerals found in the Nevesinck Hills, near the 

Raritans. t-, . -it- r • ^ • i i i 

Karitans. Kieft supposmg them to contain valuable met- 
al, sent a party to explore the region ; and determined to 
build a fort for the security of any mines that might be 
discovered. An analysis of the specimens which the par- 
ty brought back yielded what was supposed to be gold and 
12 October, quicksilvcr ; and an officer and thirty men were dispatched 
again to continue the exploration, and procure as many 
specimens as they could for transmission to Holland. The 
new mine among the Raritans was judged to be " richer 
and better than any others before known." Samples of 
all these minerals were carefully packed, and put in charge 
Arendt of Arcudt Corsscn, the former commissary at the South 
dispatched Rivcr, to bc delivered to the Amsterdam directors. There 

to Holland. . ti«- i i -i c tt ii i 

being no ship at Manhattan ready to sail for Holland, 

* Gravesend Records ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., i., 629 ; Thompson's Lohg Island, ii., 171 ; 
ante, p. 367. Coney Island was patented to Gysbert op Dyck on the 24th of May, 1644. 
The name of Coney Island .Iiulge Benson derives from Comjn, " a Dutch surname still 
remaining among us ;" but he adds that, " from the name coney, there are already symp- 
toms of the beginning of a tradition that it once abounded in rabbits."— W., N Y. IlisU 
Coll., ii., p. 93. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 413 

Corssen proceeded to New Haven, where he embarked, chap. xii. 
ahout Christmas, in a vessel of eighty tons, belonging to 
Lamberton and his associates, which was about to sail forgsDcc 
London. The severe winter, " the earliest and sharpest" 
since the settlement of New England, had already set in; 
and the harbor was frozen up. A passage was, neverthe- 
less, " cut out of the ice three miles," and the ship grot to corssen 

' ' r o lost at sea. 

sea early the next month. But " misfortune attended all 1646. 
on board." The New Haven vessel foundered at sea, and •'''""'""^" 
" was never heard of after."* 

In the mean time, the affairs in New Netherland had re- Action of 

tlie West 

ceived the serious attention of the West India Company. India com- 
The report of their Chamber of Accounts decided the fu- lation to 

New Neth" 

ture policy of the directors; and, in accordance with itseriand. 
recommendations, the College of the XIX., at its meeting 1645. 
the next spring, determined that thenceforward the pro- '^'*'^*^'^' 
vincial government should be vested in a " Supreme 
Council," consisting of a Director G-eneral, a Vice Direct- 
or, and a Fiscal, by whom all public concerns were to be 
managed. This decision rendered new arrangements nec- 
essary. 

It happened that Peter Stuyvesant, the director of the Peter stuy- 
company's colony at Curacoa, who had lost a leg in an 1644. 
unsuccessful attack on the Portuguese island of Saint -^p"'- 
Martin, was obliged to return to Holland for surgical aid, 
in the autumn of 1644. Stuyvesant was the son of amseariy 
clergyman in Friesland, and was educated in the High 
School at Franeker.t While there, he acquired that famil- 
iar knowledge of the Latin language which he was always 
fond of displaying. After leaving school, he entered the mil- 
itary service, and was appointed by the West India Com- 
pany to be the Director of their colony at Curacoa. He de- 
lighted in pomp and the ostentation of command ; and his 

* Vertoogh van N. N., in ii., N. Y. 11. S. Coll., ii., 267 ; Van der Donck's N. N., 29 ; ii., 
N. V. H. S. Coll.. i., 161, 162 ; Hoi. Doc, ii., 362, 363 ; Alb. Rec, ii., 262, 312, 318, 323 ; 
O'Call., i., 359: Winthrop, ii., 254, 266; Mather's Magnalia, i., 25, 26. Trumbull and 
Hazard (Ann. Penn., 93) err in stating the loss of the New Haven vessel in the year 1647. 

t Breeden Raedt, 26, where Stuyvesant's conduct at Franeker is stated to have been 
culpable. A faulty translation of extracts from this work is printed in Doc. Hist. N. Y., 
iv., 101-112. 



414 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



1645. 



Chap. XII. conduct ill the expedition against Saint Martin did not 

escape censure. The directors, however, looked upon the 

attack as " a piece of Roman courage ;" and Stuyvesant's 

health becoming re-established after his return to Holland, 

May. they determined to appoint him in the place of Kieft, and 

Appointed send him to New Netherland as " redresser general" of all 

director of . . , . • i-v 

Now Neth- abuses. Van Dincklagen s provisional appointment m De- 
cember was, therefore, revoked ; and he was now formal- 
5 May. ly Commissioned as vice-director, to be "second to, and 

VanDinck- ^ ' ' 

lagen vice- first counsclor of the director of New Netherland." Hen- 
director. 
Van Dyck drick vaii Dyck, who had served as ensign under Kieft, 

fiscal. J > o ' 

28 June, ^yas sooii afterward appointed, by the Amsterdam Cham- 
ber, to be fiscal in the place of Van der Huygens, " to 
make complaints against all delinquents and transgressors 
of the military laws, and all other our instructions and 
commands," and was furnished with detailed instructions 
respecting his duties.* 
7 July. Early the next month, the College of the XIX. prepared 

tions oftheand adopted a code of general instructions for the regula- 
councii. tion of the " supreme council in the countries of New 
Netherland." Under these instructions, the director, as 
president, with his vice, and the fiscal, were to administer 
and decide upon all civil and military affairs : when the 
fiscal was prosecutor, the military commandant was to sit 
in his stead ; and if the charge was a criminal one, "two 
capable persons" were to be " adjoined from the common- 
alty of that district where the crime or act was perpetra- 
ted." The director and council were to " take care that 
the English do not encroach further on the company's 
lands," and, in the mean time, try to arrange a definite 
boundary line. They were to endeavor, by all possible 
means, " to pacify and give satisfaction to the Indians," 
and advance " on the one side the interests of the compa- 
ny, and on the other maintain good correspondence with 
their neighbors." They were to "do all in their power to 
induce the colonists to establish themselves on some of the 
most suitable places, with a certain number of inhabit- 

♦ Hoi. Doc., iii., 3 ; vi., 197, 236 ; Breeden Raodt, 26, 27, 35. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 415 

ants, in the manner of towns, villages, and hamlets, as the chap, xil 
English are in the habit of doing." Fort Amsterdam was 
to be at once repaired with "good clay, earth, and firminj-truc- 
sods." A permanent garrison was to be maintained ; and thTprovin- 
for greater security, the colonists were also to be required c!f/ *^*"™" 
to provide themselves with " weapons for their own de- 
fense, so as to be able, in time of necessity, with the gar- 
rison, to resist a general attack." But this colonial mili- 
tia was not to receive pay. The right of the several sub- 
ordinate colonies to send delegates to the council at Man- 
hattan was confirmed. The director and council were to 
encourage, by grants of land, the immediate planting and 
settlement of the island of Manhattan, and to permit the 
introduction of as many negroes as the patroons, colonists, 
and other farmers may be " willing to purchase at a fair 
price." No arms or ammunition were to be sold to the 
Indians. The company having "now resolved to open to 
private persons the trade which it has exclusively carried 
on with New Netherland," and to permit all the inhabit- 
ants of the United Provinces "to sail with their own ships 
to New Netherland, the Virginias, the Swedish, English, 
and French colonies, or other places thereabout," the di- 
rector and council were finally instructed to be vigilant 
in enforcing all colonial custom-house regulations which 
might be enacted.* It was also agreed in the College of 
the XIX., that the expenses of the government of New 
Netherland should, in future, be borne by all the Cham- 
bers of the company in common. The Amsterdam Cham- 6 Joiy. 
ber, however, charged itself with the equipment of two 
vessels, to convey Stuyvesant and his suite to Manhattan.! 

Another meeting of the XIX. was held at Middleburg 21 sept 
in the following autumn, at which Stuyvesant submitted 
a memorial in relation to the better government of the 
company's American possessions. The whole subject was 
now reconsidered. After much discussion, it was event- 14 October, 
ually determined that the carrying trade between Hol- 

* Hoi. Doc, iii., 19. Translations of these instructions, and of Van Dincklagen's and 
Van Dyck's cominissions and instructions, are in O'Call., ii., Appendix, 559-564. 
t Hoi. Doc, iii., 3. 



416 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XII. land and New Netherland, which had hitherto been re- 
tained as a monopoly by the company, with an exception 
New ar- ^^ favor of the privileged patroons, should be thrown open 
mint's re- ^^ ^^® vcsscls of private merchants. Regulations were 
trTde'and adopted to givc cfFect to this policy, and to concentrate all 
commerce, colonial trade at Manhattan. All cargoes shipped to New 
Netherland were to be examined, on their arrival, by the 
customs' officers at Fort Amsterdam ; and all homeward- 
bound vessels were to clear from the same place, where 
bonds were to be given for the payment of duties in Hol- 
land. Cura^oa, Aruba, and the neighboring West India 
Islands, were also to be placed under the general govern- 
ment of the director of New Netherland. But sorne of the 
The prov- Chambers of the company demurred to the new expenses 
mafnrun- which they were to incur by sharing in common the 
sferdam "" charges of thc province ; and the Amsterdam directors 
eventually retained the exclusive management of New 
Netherland.* 

These disagreements among the several Chambers in- 
terrupted the plans which had been arranged during the 
stuyve- spring and summer ; and Stuyvesant's departure was de- 
parture layed for more than a year. Intelligence of the peace, 
pos pone . ^j^^pj.j^ YiQ^^ at last been established in New Netherland, 
was now received in Holland ; and the improved aspect 
of the affairs of the province perhaps tempted the compa- 
ny to allow Kieft to remain awhile longer in the post he 
had so unworthily occupied. 
Kieft'sun- The ncws of the intended recall of the director soon 
fnc"eaJcs^ reached Manhattan. The commonalty were delighted 
with the prospect of a change ; and some of the most free- 
Temper of spoken of them did not hesitate openly to express their joy, 
and even threaten their mortified chief with personal chas- 
tisement, when he should "take off the coat with which 
he was bedecked by the Lords his masters." Kieft, who 
had been furnished by the West India Company with a 
copy of the letter of the Eight Men, of the previous au- 

* Hoi. Doc, iii., 31-63; v., 124; viii., 153; Alb. Rec, viii., 39, 40; xii., 45, 63, 70; 
O'Call., i., 360, 301. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 417 

tumn, was in no temper to brook the reproaches with chap. xn 
which he was now constantly saluted. The people who~~7" 
ventured to speak too boldly were arraigned, and fined 
and banished. No appeal to the Fatherland was allowed. The right 
The right had already been refused in the case of the En- agairfre- 
glish clergyman Doughty ; another opportunity now oc- 
curred to deny it to a " free merchant" of Manhattan. 
Arnoldus van Hardenburg, for giving a written notice of ssApra. 
his intention to appeal from a decree of confiscation, was 
condemned "to pay forthwith a fine of twenty-five guild- 
ers, or be imprisoned until the penalty be paid — an ex- 
ample to others." Van Hardenburg's conduct was looked 
upon as causing "dangerous consequences to result to the 
supreme authority of this land's magistracy."* 

The republican spirit which accompanied the colonists The people 
from Holland led them to denounce Kieft's denial of the Kieft's typ- 
right of appeal. They considered it "an act of tyranny, 
and regarded it as a token of sovereignty." Two years 
before, they had boldly complained to the States G-eneral 
that " one man," who represented the West India Com- 
pany, had acted in a more arbitrary manner "than a king 
would be suffered legally to do." The popular feeling Quarrel be- 
was encouraged by Domine Bogardus, whom Kieft had and Bogar- 
accused of drunkenness, and reprimanded for siding with 
the malcontented multitude. Twelve years before, Bo- 
gardus had not hesitated to attack Van Twiller in rude 
words. From the pulpit he now boldly denounced Van 
Twiller's more obnoxious successor. "What are the great 
men of the country," said he to the congregation, as he 
was preaching on a Sunday, "but vessels of wrath, and 
fountains of woe and trouble ? They think of nothing 
but to plunder the property of others, to dismiss, to ban- 
ish, to transport to Holland." To escape such severe cler- 
ical admonitions, Kieft absented himself from church ; and 
his example was followed by many of the chief provincial 
officers. The director encouraged the officers and soldiers to 

* Vertoogh van N. N., in ii., N. Y. H. S. CoU., ii., 302, 303, 333, 334 ; Breeden Kaedt, 
21, 25. 

Dd 



418 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XII. practice all kinds of noisy amusements about the church 
during the sermon. The drum was ordered to be beaten, 
■ and a cannon was several times discharged while the peo- 
ple were attending divine service. The communicants 
were openly insulted. But the Domine did not relax his 
censures ; and the people were still more embittered. 
Kieft, vexed beyond endurance, at last determined to bring 

'2 January, the coutumacious clergyman to trial. " Your conduct 
stirs the people to mutiny and rebellion, when they are 
already too much divided, causes schism and abuses in 
the Church, and makes us a scorn and laughing-stock to 
our neighbors," was the inducement to a series of charges 
which the director cited Bogardus to answer before the 
court in fourteen days. 

The Domine's reply was considered insolent, calumni- 

15 January ous, and Unsatisfactory; and a further answer was rc- 

22 March, quircd, which Bogardus refused to give. The director 

now ort'ered to refer the decision of the whole case to Me- 
gapolensis and Doughty, the other clergymen of the prov- 
Apru. ince, and two or three more impartial persons. Bogardus, 
however, rejected the proposition, and announced his in- 
tention to appeal to Kieft's successor. This appeal Kieft 
refused to entertain, as it was uncertain when the new 
director would arrive ; and to stop " the scandal and dis- 
order, which were prevailing more and more," the case 
was ordered to proceed. But the interference of mutual 
friends before long put an end to the prosecution ; and the 
The Direct- director was enabled to attend divine service once more, by 
Domine the prompt compliance of Bogardus with his request, that 
Domine Megapolensis should be allowed to preach in the 
church the next Sunday, "as was his usual custom when 
in New Amsterdam." The Classis of Amsterdam had, 
meanwhile, been taking some steps to send out more cler- 
gymen to New Netherland. But their efforts were unsuc- 

23 July, cessful ; and the West India Company wrote to Bogardus, 

asking him to retain awhile longer his post in the province.* 

* Vertoogh, ut sup., 202 ; (^or. Classis Amst. ; Alb. Rec, ii., 334-347 ; O'Call., i., 363- 
365 ; Breeden Raedt, 22, 23. See also note O, Appendix. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 419 

Not long after this dispute had been arranged, Kieft chap. xu. 
was called upon to perform a pleasant duty. The captive 
grand-daughter of Anne Hutchinson, whom the savages j^g^j^^^. ' 
had promised to return, was faithfully delivered up to the '^°" ""^ 
Dutch at Fort Amsterdam ; and Kieft hastened to restore sm-s'^'"' 
her to her friends at Boston. " She was about eight years ^^^g^ier. 
old when she was taken, and continued with them about ■'"'^'" 
four years ; and she had forgot her own language and all 
her friends, and was loath to have come from the Indians."* 

In the mean time, Hans Jorissen Houten, so long the 1645. 
company's vice-director and commissary at Fort Orange, Fon or? 
had been succeeded by Harman Mynderts van de Bo-nln'sse- 
gaerdt, who came out to the province in 1631 as surgeon '"^"^''^* 
of the ship Eendragt. The fort and its precinct was jeal- 
ously maintained by the company ; for it was now its sole 
possession within the colonie of Rensselaerswyck. The 
management of that patroonship had already given dis- 
satisfaction to the provincial government, which, the year 
before, had so distinctly rebuked the arrogant pretension 
to levy a toll on vessels passing Beeren Island. The West 
India Company, indeed, by this time had begun to regard 
the colonie as injurious to the growth and prosperity of the 
province at large. t 

Arendt van Curler remained commissary of Rensselaers- Quarrei be- 

!• i-n> 111! tween Van 

wyck ; but Adnaen van der Donck, who had become dis- curierand 

•^ ^ . . . . . Van der 

satisfied with his residence in the colonie, determining to Donck. 
remove to Manhattan, where he had married a daughter 
of Francis Doughty, the English clergyman, was succeed- 
ed in his office of schout by Nicholas Koorn, the former 
" Wacht-meester" at Beeren Island. Before Van der 1646. 
Donck completed his arrangements for departing, the'^"'^""^'^''' 
house which he had occupied was burned ; and Van Cur- 
ler invited him and his wife to share his hospitality dur- 
ing the depth of a remarkably inclement winter. A quar- 
rel soon arose, because Van Curler insisted that Van der 
Donck was bound by his lease to make good to the pa- 

* Winthrop, ii., 267. Welde describes the captive as the daughter of Anne Hutchin- 
son's daughter. t Alb. Rec, iv., 199. 



420 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NE\A' YORK. 

Chap. XII. troon the loss of the house ; and the unfortunate tenant 
was peremptorily ordered to " remove his chest" in two 

19 Feb days. Seeking refuge in Fort Orange, Van der Donck 
was allowed by Commissary Van de Bogaerdt to occupy 
a hut " into which no one would hardly be willing to en- 
ter." There he remained until a great freshet came, 

March. which causcd great damage at Beverswyck, and almost 
swept away the fort. It had not been equaled since the 
flood which De Vries witnessed in 1640. At length, on 

38 April, the opening of the river navigation, Van der Donck went 
down to Manhattan,* 

Death of News of the death of Kiliaen van Rensselaer soon after- 

Rensse- Ward reached the colonic. By this event, the title and es- 



laer. 



tate of the patroon descended to his eldest son Johannes, 
who being under age, was, by his father's testamentary 
directions, placed, with his property, under the guardian- 
ship of Johannes van Wely and Wouter van Twiller, the 
executors of the will. Van Curler, now proposing to re- 
turn to Holland, intrusted the immediate care of Rensse- 
laerswyck to Anthonie de Hooges, the colonial secretary. 
10 Nov. The same autumn, the guardians of the younj? patroon, 

Brandt van . i i i i ri r^ i ■ t 

siechtcn- having rendered homage to the btates (xeneral in the 

tiorst 8.11- 

pointed di- name of their ward, appointed Brandt van Slechtenhorst, 

rector of . 

the colonic, of Guclderland, director of the colonic, to succeed Van 

Curler. It was more than a year, however, before the new 

commissary arrived at Beverswyck.t 

Van der Not loug after Vail der Donck removed from Rensse- 

tains a pat- lacrswyck, lic visited the region on the east side of the 

colonic North River, adjoining Manhattan Island, for the purpose 

Manhattan, of establishing himself permanently as a patroon. The 

valley of the Nepera, or Sawkill, appeared favorable for 

the erection of mills, and Kieft readily granted to Van der 

♦ Renss. MSS. ; O'Call., i., 346, 409-471 ; Winthrop. ii., 254. The result of the differ- 
ences between Van Curler and Van der Donck was "to let the matter rest so," and to 
take the advice of the patroon in Holland. Van der Donck, in his Beschryvinge van N. 
N., p. 8 (ii., N. Y. II. S. Coll., i., 143), speaks of two whales having swum up the North 
River, in March, 1047 (1646 7) ; one of which grounding on an i.sland near "the great Co- 
hooes' Falls," since known as Walvisch or Whale Island, afforded the colonists a supply 
of oil, besides causing the river to be covered with grease for three weeks. 

t Renss. MSS. ; O'Call., i., 122, 345 ; ii., 68, 69 ; post, p. 491. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 421 

Donck the privileges of a patroon over the lands in that chap. xu. 
neighborhood, because he "had contributed a vast deal by 
his services as mediator" in negotiating the peace at Fort 
Orange the year before, and had " advanced the principal 
part of the money, as the director general was at that pe- 
riod not well provided with it, to procure sewan." Under 
Kieft's grant. Van der Donck purchased from the savages 
their unextinguished title to the lands " as far as Papirine- 
min, called by our people (Spyt den Duyvel), in Spite of spytden 
the Devil." The new patroonship was soon afterward "^^^' 
formally named "Colen Donck," or Donck's Colony; andcoien- 
the States Greneral confirmed to the patroon the right to now Yon- 
dispose of his fief by will. The name of the present town 
of Yonkers perpetuates the memory of the first European 
proprietor of Colendonck.* 

The same summer, Kieft issued a patent to Cornells 22 August. 
Antonissen van Slyck, of Breuckelen, for " the land of Katskiii. 
Katskill, lying on the River Mauritius, there to plant, with 
his associates, a colonic according to the freedoms and ex- 
emptions of New Netherland," The consideration for this 
patent were the great services which Van Slyck had done 
" this country, as well in the making of peace as in the 
ransoming of prisoners, and it being proper that such no- 
torious services should not remain unacknowledged."! In 
thus granting a patent for the present town of Catskill, 
Kieft openly set at naught the pretensions of the patroon 
of Rensselaerswyck, which, indeed, had already been for- 
mally denied in the proceedings against Koorn in 1644. 

The policy recommended by the West India Company's 26 Nov. 
Chamber of Accounts was now acted upon ; and late in obtains a 
the autumn, the inhabitants of Breuckelen were invested govern-''* 
with a grant of the municipal privileges they desired. 
They were to have the right of electing two schepens or 
magistrates, with full judicial powers, as in the Father- 

* Alb. Rec, viii., 79 ; Patents, i., 56 ; Hoi. Doc, vi., 118; Bolton's West Chester, il., 
401^09 ; Benson's Memoir, 111, 112 ; ii., N. Y. H. S. Coll., i., 127. The Dutch were in 
the habit of calling Van der Donck's estate " de Jonkheer's Landt," which the English aft- 
erward corrupted into " Yonkers." Jonkheer is a title usually applied in irolland to the 
eon of a nobleman. It had a more extended significance in New Netherland. 

t Alb. Rec. G. G., 157 ; Rens.s. MSS. ; O'Call., i., 382, 383 ; ante, p. 378, 401. 



422 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XII. land. Those who opposed the magistrates in the discharge 
of their duties were to be deprived of all share in the corn- 
First ^^^^ lands adjoining the village. A schout was also to be 
Breucke-*^ appointed, in subordination to the schout-fiscal at Man- 
'*"• hattan; and Jan Teunissen was immediately commission- 

ed for the post. The village of Breuckelen itself was, at 
this time, nearly a mile inland from the river ; the ham- 
let at the water's edge, opposite Manhattan, was known 
as " the Ferry."* 

1645. Peace had at length been arranged between the French 
tween the and the Iroquois ; and the Mohawk deputies had proclaim- 
anXhif ed at the Three Rivers, that they had " thrown the hatchet 

so high into the air, and beyond the skies, that no arm on 
Father Jo- earth can reach to bring it down." Father Jogues, who 

gues again , , . . ^ ^ 

in Canada, had just retumcd from France, was now commissioned to 
revisit the Mohawk country, with presents, to ratify the 

1646. new treaty. Accompanied by Bourdon, an engineer, and 
some Indian guides, he ascended the Richelieu j^ traversed 
the waters of Champlain ; passed " the place where the 

29 May. lake Contracts ;" and on the eve of the festival of Corpus 

V isits "Lac _ _ ' * 

du Saint Christi, icached the smaller lake, which the savages called 

Saero- / ' . o 

ment." " Ajidiatavoctc." In commemoration of the day, the name 
of " Saint Sacrement" was now given to those pure waters, 
which Jogues was perhaps the first European to explore 
and traverse.! Continuing his route on foot, oppressed 
with the heavy luggage he was obliged to carry, at six 
leagues distance from the lake he reached the upper wa- 
ters of a stream which the Iroquois called the "Oiogue," 
Descends ^^^ wliicli the Hollanders, who were settled upon it fur- 
the North tJief down, had named " the River Mauritius." Again em- 

River to ' " 

Fort Or- harking, he descended the stream to Fort Orange, where 

ange. "^ o' o ' 

4 June. Y^Q ^ya>^ hospitably entertained by the Dutch commander. 

* Alb. Reo., ii., 357, 385 ; iii., 362 ; O'Call., i., 383 ; Van Tienhoven, in ii., N. Y. H. S. 
Coll., ii., 332, and Murphy's note. 

t " Us arriverent, la veille du S. Sacrement, au bout du Lac qui est joint au grand La; 
de Champlain. Les Iroquois le nommcnt Andiataroctii, comme qui diroit W ou le Lac se 
ferme. Le P6rc le nomma Ic Lac du S. Sacrement."— Relation, 1045-6, 50. These beau- 
tiful waters might now belter bear the aboriginal name suggested by Cooper, or that of 
the illustrious missionary who explored them, than commemorate the " undoubted domin- 
ion" of a Hanoverian king; ante, p. 77, note. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 433 

Thence proceeding to the Mohawk country, after two days' chap. xii. 
journey, he reached their first castle, called " Oneugiou- ~ 

re," now known as Caughnawaga. The Mohawks re-gj^^g ' 
ceived him kindly, and interchanged presents in ratifica- J|,g^i^".* 
tion of their treaty ; and Jogues, after offering to the Onon- ["awkcoun- 
dagas the friendship of the French, returned to the Three Returns to 
Rivers " by the same route, and with similar toil." ujune. 

It was now hoped that the time had come for France 
to establish a permanent mission among the Iroquois ; and 
before the end of three months, Jogues, whose zeal "burn- 
ed to preach the faith," was again on his way to the Mo- 24 Sept. 
hawk valley. " Ibo, nee rediho''' — " I shall go, but shall again re- 
never return," was his own presage, in the last letter he Mohawks. 
wrote to his superior in France. The fate he expected 
awaited him. Disease had swept off many of the savages ; 
their harvest had failed ; and the Mohawks were persuad- 
ed that the Evil Spirit lurked in the small box of mission- 
ary furniture which the father had left in their charge. 
On reaching the Mohawk valley, Jogues was seized, strip- 1: October. 
ped, and beaten ; and the grand council condemned him 
to death as an enchanter. As he was entering the wior- is October. 
wam where he. was called to sup, a savage behind the door 
struck him down with an axe. His head was cut off and His death, 
impaled upon the stockade, and his body was thrown into 
the Mohawk River. Thenceforward that valley became 
known in the annals of the Jesuits as " the Mission of the 
Martyrs."* 

The interests of the Hollanders on the South River had, 1645. 
meanwhile, demanded Kieft's serious attention. With but ^f^solth 
a small force — eighty or ninety men at the utmost — to gar- ^^^^^' 
rison all his posts, Printz, the new Swedish governor, had 
succeeded, by good management, in drawing to himself 
nearly all the Indian trade in that quarter, and had al- 
most annihilated the commerce of the Dutch.! A new em- 

* Relation, &c., 1645-6, 50-59; 1647, 6-8, 124-130; Letters of Labbatie, 30th of Oct., 
and of Kieft, 14th of Nov., 1646, in ii., N. Y. H. S. Coll., iii. ; Tanner, Soc. Jesu, &c., 
530, 531 ; Creuxius, 457 ; Bancroft, iii., 135-138 ; O'Call., ii., 300 ; Hildreth, ii., 87. The 
missal of Father Jogues, and some of his clothes, were afterward given by the Mohawks 
to Domine Megapolensis. — Letter to Classis of Amsterdam, 28lh of September, 1658. 

t Fort New Gottenburg, with all its buildings, was burned down on the 5th of Decern- 



424 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XII. bariassment soon occurred. Jan Jansen was charged with 
~ fraud and neglect of duty ; and the provincial government, 
janscn su- ^^^^^ examining the evidence, sent Andries Hudde, the 
jToctober. ^^^^^ survcyor of New Amsterdam, to succeed him, "for 
fiudde'ap- ^^® present," as commissary at Fort Nassau. Jansen, on 
commissa- ^^^ Tctum, was unahle to justify himself to the satisfac- 
"^^ifidfi ^^°^ °^ Kieft, who ordered him to be sent, "with all his 
3 Feb. documents and the process of the schout-fiscal, with the 

first sailing ship to Amsterdam, to defend and exculpate 

himself before the directors."* 

Hudde soon found that the office of commissary on the 
23 June. Soutli River was no sinecure. A shallop, which several 
sloop or- private traders at Manhattan had dispatched to him with 
the schuyi- a Considerable cargo, was directed, on its arrival at Fort 

kill by the 

Swedes. Nassau, to proceed "to the Schuylkill near the right, and 
wait for the Minquas." As soon as the Dutch vessel 
reached the spot, Juriaen Blanck, the trader on board, was 
ordered off by the Swedish commander, who claimed that 
the country belonged to his queen. Hudde hearing of this, 
instantly went with four men to the Schuylkill, " to ex- 
amine how matters stood." But the Dutch commissary 
himself was treated with no more favor than were the 
Manhattan traders ; and he too, receiving notice to leave 
the Swedish territory, returned at once to Fort Nassau, 
after sending a message to Printz that the Schuylkill had 
always been a trading place for the Dutch. The next 
day Printz sent his chaplain, Campanius, to communicate 
his determination to compel the Dutch vessel to leave the 
Hudde's Schuylkill. Hudde protesting against such arbitrary con- 
with duct as an infringement of the rights of the West India 
Company, and as a breach of the alliance between the 
United Provinces and Sweden, Printz sent Hendrick Huy- 
gens, his commissary, with two of his officers, to ascertain 
the rights which the Dutch claimed to the Schuylkill, 

ber, 1645, and all the powder and goods in store blown up. The accident was owing to 
the negligence of a servant, who Cell asleep, leaving a candle burning.— Hudde's Report, 
in Alb. Rec., xvii., 321, and in ii., N. Y. II. S. Coll., i., 429; Winlhrop, ii., 234 ; Hub- 
bard, 434. 
* Alb. Rec, ii., 319, 323, 337 ; Acrelius, 413 : S. Hazard's Ann. Penn., 85, 86. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 425 

and to interrogate the commissary at Fort Nassau as to chap. xii. 
his conduct. But Hudde's replies were considered to be 
unsatisfactory ; and a few days afterward, Printz sent a j J^, " 
peremptory order for Blanck to depart at once, under pain 
of confiscation of his vessel and cargo. On this warning, 
Blanck, fearing that Printz would execute his threat, sail- 
ed out of the Schuylkill; and Hudde immediately wrote to i2Juiy. 
Kieft an account of the affair.* 

Soon afterward, Hudde, in obedience to orders from 
Kieft, " to inquire about certain minerals in this country," 
went up to the country of the Sankikan Indians, who were 
seated at Assinpink, now Trenton, in New Jersey, and 
tried to penetrate to the " Grreat Falls." As he was pass- iiuddeprc- 
ing the lower rapids, he was stopped by one of the sa- vfi^tmg tt"' 
chems, and forbidden to proceed. After some hesitation, Trenton. 
the sachem admitted that Printz had spread a report Pmux en- 
among the Indians that the Dutch intended to establish a excite the 
fort at the falls, to be garrisoned with two hundred and against ti.e 
fifty men from Manhattan, and exterminate all the sav- 
ages in the neighborhood. In vain did Hudde employ a 
variety of means to succeed in his object. He was stop- 
ped every time by the same objection, and was finally com- 
pelled to return to Fort Nassau without being able to reach 
the Falls.t 

About the same time, the director and council at Man- lo August, 
hattan granted to Abraham Planck and three others, one grants 
hundred morgens, or two hundred acres of land, lying on the south 
the west side of the South River, "almost over against Dmch °ub- 
the little ' Singing-bird' Island," upon condition that they^"^" 
should settle four plantations there within one year, and 
always continue their allegiance to the States Greneral. 
But it is said that the grantees did not avail themselves 
of their patent, and " never came there. "t , 

The next month, Hudde received a letter from Kieft, in 7 sept. 

* Hudde's Report, in Alb. Rec, xvii., 321, and in ii., N. Y. Coll., 1., p. 430-432. It 
seems that some of the Swedish officers were native Dutchmen. Hendrick Huygens, 
Printz's commissary, was a nephew of Minuit, and a native of Cleef ; and Gregory van 
Dyck, the sergeant or Wacht-meester, was born at the Hague. 

t Hudde's Report, ut sup., 432, 433. 

t Alb. Rec, Patents, 153 ; Acrelius, 417 ; Hazard, Reg. Penn., iv., 119. 



426 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

CHAP. XII. which he was "imperiously commanded" to purchase from 
the savaojes some land "on the west shore, about a mile 
' distant from Fort Nassau to the north." On the follow- 
ing day, the Dutch commissary accordingly took posses- 
sion of the spot, which seems to have adjoined Corssen's 
Co Sept. first purchase ; and soon afterward, a bargain was com- 
dmsesthe plctcd with the " origuial proprietor," who assisted in af- 
adeiphia fixiug thc arms of the company to a pole erected on the 
natives, limits. Several Dutch freemen immediately made prepa- 
rations to build on their newly-acquired possession, which, 
considering its distance and direction from Fort Nassau, 
may be very properly regarded as the site of the present 
city of Philadelphia.* 

Prinfcz, on receiving intelligence of this, sent his com- 
missary Huygens to oppose the proceedings of the Dutch. 
8 October. The Swcdisli officer promptly executed his orders. " In 
arms torn au iusolcut and hostilc manner," he tore down the arms 
the^" ^ which Hudde had erected, and declared that " though it 
had been the colors of the Prince of Orange that were 
hoisted there, he would have thrown these too under his 
feet."t 
30 Sept. A few days afterward, Printz formally notified Hudde 

10 October. .j-Q (Jigcontiuue the "injuries" of which he had been guilty 
Printz pro- agalust the crown of Sweden, and protested against the 
against " sccrct and unlawful purchase of land from the savages," 
purchase, whicli would scem to argue that the Dutch had no more 
right to that place than to their other "pretensive claims" 

* Iludde's Report, in Alb. Rec, xvii., and in ii., N. Y. Coll., i., p. 433, 440; Acrelius, 
412 ; Fcrris's Early Settlements, p. 75 ; ante, p. 232. Campanius (p. 79) says that a few 
days before this (Sept. 4, 164f)), he consecrated a decent wooden church, which had just 
been built at Tinicum. Before the building of this church, worship was probably con- 
ducted m some part of the Fort New Gottenburg, which was destroyed by fire thc last 
year. — Ila/.ard's Ann. Penn., 89. 

t Iludde's Report, 435 ; Acrelius, 412. Alluding to this occurrence, the commonalty 
of N. N , in their " Vcrtoogh," of the 13th of October, 1649, remark, "It is matter of ev- 
idence, that above Maghchachansie, near the Sankikans, the arms of their High Mighti- 
nesses were erected, by order of Director Kiefl," &c.— ii., N. Y. II. S. Coll., ii., 283. 
The place, however, seems here to have been inaccurately described as at Crosswirk 
Creek, near Bordcntown. Acrelius, too (p. 412), says that it was "at Santhiekan," or 
Trenton. But Commissary Hudde, as we have already seen, was prevented reaching 
Trenton Falls, or " Assinpink," where the Sankikans were seated ; and he expressly 
states that the spot upon which he erected the Dutch arms was " on the west shore, 
about a Dutch mile distant from Fort Nassau to the north," or on the site of Philadelphia. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 427 

on the South River. Finding that the Swedish governor chap. xii. 
had followed up his protest by "forbidding his subjects to 
enter into any transactions" with the Dutch, Hudde re- 22 octobJr 
plied, "I purchased the land not in a clandestine manner, ^ly'lo^"*'" 
neither unjustly, unless your honor calls that a clandes- ^""**" 
tine manner which is not performed with your honor's 
knowledge. I purchased it from the real owner. If he 
sold that land previously to your honor, then he imposed 
upon me shamefully. The place which we possess, we 
possess in deed, in just property — perhaps before the name 
of the South River was heard of in Sweden." Referring 
to the " insolent and hostile" manner in which the Dutch 
arms had been thrown down, Hudde warned the Swedish 
governor that his conduct could have " no other tendency 
than to cause great calamities ;" and urged him to pro- 
mote good correspondence and harmony, " at least from 
the consideration that we who are Christians should not 
place ourselves as a stumbling-block or laughing-stock to 
those savage heathens." 

But the Dutch commissary's dispatch was very un- Printz-s 
ceremoniously treated by the imperious commander of ous con- 
the Swedes. When Hudde's messenger arrived at Fort ward the 
New Gottenburg, Printz, taking the letter from his hand, 23 October, 
threw it on the ground, bidding one of his attendants to 
"take care of it;" and then went "to meet some English- 
men just arrived from New England." After some inter- 
val, the messenger, asking for an answer, " was thrown 
out of doors, the governor taking a gun in his hand from 
the wall, to shoot him, as he imagined." Printz, how- 
ever, was prevented from leaving the room to execute his 
threat ; but his general conduct toward the Dutch con- 
tinued brutal in the extreme. " The subjects of the com- 
pany," wrote Hudde, " as well freemen as servants, when 
arriving at the place where he resides, are in a most un- 
reasonable manner abused, so that they are often, on re- 
turning home, bloody and bruised."* 

Thus ended Kieft's negotiations with the Swedes on the 

* Hudde's Report, in ii., N. Y. II. S. Coll., i., 434-436. 



428 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XII. South River. Angry recriminations alone marked their 
progress ; for the bankrupt authorities at Manhattan were 
' in no position to repel distant encroachments. And thus 
the purchase and occupation of the site of Philadelphia by 
the Dutch was the occasion of unseemly wrangles between 
the rival European colonists who first settled themselves 
on the banks of the Delaware. 
Difficulties While the Swedes were thus thwarting the Dutch on 
English at the Soutli Rivcr, the attention of the government at Fort 
Amsterdam was awakened to fresh annoyances from the 
English at the East. The post which Pynchon had estab- 
lished at Springfield effectually commanded the upper val- 
Ncw Ha- ley of the Connecticut. Some of the New Haven people 
ing-po'st on now purcliascd a tract of land from the Indians, and built 
gussett. a trading-house on the Paugussett or Naugatuck River, 
just above its confluence with the Housatonic. This 
brought the English settlements within a short distance 
3 August, of MaL^dalen Island, on the North River.* On learning 
tests this, Kir It dispatched Lieutenant George Baxter, with a 
encroach- letter iu Latin to Grovernor Eaton, complaining of the 



meat. 



" insatiable desire" of New Haven to usurp Dutch terri- 
tory and possess " that which is ours." Against Eaton 
himself and his people he protested, as disturbers of the 
public quiet, "because you and yours have of late de- 
termined to fasten your foot near the Mauritius River, in 
this province ;" and he threatened that, if the English did 
not make proper reparation, the Dutch would use all the 
means Grod had given them to recover their rights. 
!.^Augu.st. In a few days, Eaton replied in Latin, professing to 
dilimsthe know no such river as the Mauritius, "unless it bo that 
purSe''^' which the English have long and still do call Hudson's 
iTv'^ges^. River," and denying that they had in any respect injured 
the Dutch. They had built, he admitted, a small house 
within their own territory, which they had purchased from 
the Indians " on Paugussett River, which falls into the sea 
in the midst of the English plantations, many miles, nay, 
leagues from the Manhattoes, from the Dutch trading- 

* ii., N. Y. Coll., ii., p. 273 ; O'Call., i., 376 ; ante, p. 54, note, 261. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 429 

house, or from any port on Hudson's river." And then, chap. xii. 
adroitly recriminating, he alluded to the injuries which 
the Dutch had done the people of New Haven, at the South complains 
River and at Manhattan, and offered to refer the whole eonduct o't" 
case to arbitration, "either here or in Europe," being well o'Jfth""*' 
assured that the king and Parliament would maintain er°"^^ ^"'' 
their own rights, and that even Kieft's own superiors 
would " approve the righteousness" of the proceedings of 
New Haven.* 

The next month the Commissioners of the United Colo- September. 
nies met at New Haven, and within the claimed limits of missioners 
New Netherland. Taking advantage of the occasion, the New Ha- 

ven. 

Hartford people laid before them their story of the wrongs 
which David Provoost, the commissary at Fort Good 
Hope, had committed against them. The commissioners j% Sept. 
" thought fit to express their apprehensions in writing," Ktefi!^ 
and accordingly sent a letter in Latin to Kieft, complain- 
ing that the Dutch agent and his company at Hartford 
had " now grown to a strange and insufferable boldness." 
An Indian captive, who had fled from her English master, 
was " entertained" at the Fort Gfood Hope ; and, though 
required by the magistrate, was detained by the Dutch. 
" Such a servant," urged the commissioners, " is part of 
her master's estate, and a more considerable part than a 
beast."t When the "watch at Hartford" was sent to re- 
claim the slave, Provoost drew and broke his rapier upon 
their weapons, and then retired within the fort. " Had he 
been slain in this proud affront, his blood had been upon 
his own head." 

Lieutenant Grodfrey, who was dispatched to Fort Am- 22 Sept. 
sterdam with this letter, returned in a few days with wise reply- 
Kieft's reply in Latin, addressed to the " Commissioners 

* Hazard, ii., 55, 56. 

t It appears to have been the practice in the Puritan colonies to enslave and sell into 
foreign bondage the natives of North America.— Winthrop, i., 234, 254 ; Bancroft, i., 168, 
169 ; ante, p. 272. Winthrop himself bequeathed to his son his "Indians," at his island 
" called Governor's Garden."— Winthrop, ii., App., 360. The Massachusetts code of 
1641 expressly sanctioned the holding in bond slavery of" lawful captives taken in just 
wars," and such " as willingly sell themselves, or are sold to us," several years before 
the example was fbllowed by Virginia or Maryland.— Colony Charters and Laws, xii., 52, 
53 ; Hildreth, i., 278. 



430 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XII. of the Federated English, met together at the Red Mount, 
~ or New Haven, in New Netherland." The Hartford peo- 

■ pie, he insisted, had deceived the commissioners with false 
accusations ; the wrongs were committed on their side ; 
their usurpation of Dutch jurisdiction, and shedding of 
blood, and seizure of cattle, "do sufficiently testify the 
equity of their proceedings." As to the "barbarian hand- 
maid," detained at Fort Grood Hope, she was probably not 
a slave, but a free woman, " because she was neither 
taken in war nor bought with price." Yet she should not 
be "wrongfully detained." For the English at Hartford 
to complain of the Dutch at Fort Good Hope, was like 
"Esop's wolf complaining of the lamb." The answer of 
the New Haven people was what might have been expect- 
ed ; yet the Dutch would still pursue their own rights by 
Trotest just mcaus. " Wc protcst," concluded Kieft, " against 
ineeting of all you commisslouers met at the Red Mount, as against 
missioners breakers of the common league, and also infringers of the 
ven. special right of the Lords the States our superiors, in that 

ye have dared, without express commission, to hold your 
fjeneral meeting within the limits of New Netherland." 
hi Sept. The commissioners immediately declared themselves 
oi''the"com- " much uusatisfied" with Kieft's letter. The Indian maid, 
they insisted, was a slave, captured in war, who had fled 
from public justice, and was detained by the Dutch, " both 
from her master and the magistrate." The conduct of the 
Dutch, in this and other respects, the commissioners con- 
ceived, fully warranted their use of the offensive term 
"unsufferable disorders." Kieft could hardly prove that 
the Hartford Confederates had deceived them by false 
complaints ; and " for your other expressions, proverbs, or 
allusions, we leave them to your better consideration." 
•' We have more cause to protest against your protesta- 
tions," added the commissioners, "than you have to be of- 
fended at our boldness in meeting at New Haven, and, for 
aught we know, may show as good commission for the one 
as you for the other."* 

' Hazard, ii., 57, 58, 08-72; i., N. Y. Hist. Coll., i., 180-199; Trumbull's Conn., i., 



missioners. 



J 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 431 

This quiet dispatch closed the correspondence between chap. xii. 
the Director of New Netherland and the colonial authori- 
ties of New England, whose long altercations "had no dig- 
nity, because they were followed by no result."* Wliile 
justice and equity appeared to be on the side of the Hol- 
landers, the English negotiators showed themselves the 
best diplomatists ; and the reckless Kieft only injured a 
good cause by intemperate zeal and undignified language. 

Kieft promptly sent an account of the fresh encroach- 22 Nov. 

' 1 ./ Instruc- 

ment of New Haven to the Amsterdam Chamber. The tions of tf,. 

directors, in reply, instructed him to obtain authentic in- dam cham 
' * ''/ . ber to op- 

formation respecting the assumed right of the Indians to pose the de 

, . . signs of ih'- 

sell to the English any lands within the Dutch limits, in English. 
the direction of Fort Orange ; to prevent the erection of 
any more English trading- houses in that quarter by all 
possible measures short of those likely to provoke actual 
war ; and to watch with vigilance, and oppose with vigor, 
all further movements of those grasping neighbors, who 
now seemed bent on appropriating to themselves the whole 
of New Netherland. Referring to the discovery of mines Expiora- 
on Staten Island, and in the Raritan country, they also in- mines to bo 

II- 1 ■ 1 * encour- 

timated that it was their purpose to send out proper per- aged- 
sons to examine and report, and to continue explorations 
which they hoped would be advantageous to the com- 
pany.t 

Kieft's disastrous administration was now drawing near 
its end. The differences among the several Chambers of 
the West India Company, which had so long delayed the 13 Juiy. 
departure of their new director from Holland, were now panVapp'y 
so far arranged, that in the summer of 1646 an applica-s°tatJLGen- 
tion was made to the general government for the ratifica- fy stuyvt.- 
tion of Stuyvesant's commission. But the statesmen at mission. 

155-158 ; Winthrop, ii., 268. Kieft having written to Winthrop, complaining of Whiting, 
a magistrate of Hartford, " for saying that the English were fools in suffering the Dutch 
in the centre," &c., the letter was referred to the commissioners, who wrote to the direct- 
or that they wished " all such provoking and threatening language might be forborne on 
both parts," as contrary to the peace and neighborly correspondence they desired to pre- 
serve between the two nations. Kieft replied, that he would " altogether forget" what 
Whiting had said, and added, " that the sun of peace may more clearly shine among tis, 
I both applaud and desire." 
* Bancroft, ii., 283. t Alb. Rec, xii., 397, 398 ; O'Call., i., 359, 381. 



432 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. xii. the Hague declined to take any action upon the subject 

until they knew how the company had disposed of the 

complaints which the commonalty of New Netherland had 

addressed to the Fatherland, and until they had examined 

the instructions for the provincial director and council, 

The compa- which the Company had proposed the year before. These 

structions wcrc promptly submitted ; and the States Greneral ap- 

26 July, provmg then- tenor, ordered them to be enrolled m their 

archives.* 
28 July. Two days afterward, the draft of Stuyvesant's commis- 

sant'a com- siou was Considered and ratified. By this instrument, the 

mission ap- ^ _, . .,,.,. , 

proved. fetatcs (jrcneral appointed him director over New Nether- 
land and the adjoining places, and also over the islands of 
Curagoa, Buenaire, Aruba, and their dependencies. He 
was "to perform all that concerns his office and duties in 
accordance with the charter, and with the general and 
particular instructions herewith given and hereafter to be 
given to him ;'' and all the officers and subjects of the 
United Provinces in those countries were enjoined "to ac- 
knowledge respect, and obey the said Peter Stuyvesant as 

Director our dircctor." The same day Stuyvesant appeared in 

andvice-di- j j i i 

rector persou in the meeting of the States General, and took his 

sworn in. 

28 July, oath of office. Immediately afterward, Lubbertus van 
Dincklagen was sworn, in the same manner, as vice-di- 
rector and first counselor of New Netherland ; and the 
newly-commissioned officers repaired to Amsterdam to 
hasten their preparations for embarking.! 
KTppditiori But the departure of the expedition was still delayed 
iheTexei nearly five months longer. At last, all the preliminary 

for Ngw •/ lj •/ 

Nether- arrangements were completed ; and Stuyvesant and Van 
December. Diucklagcn, accompanicd by Fiscal Van Dyck, Captain 
Bryan Newton, an Englishman, who had served under the 
company several years at Curatjoa, Commissary Adriaen 
Keyser, and Captain Jelrner Thomas, embarked in four 
ships at the Texel. Besides these officers and their at- 

* llol. Doc. , iii., 19, 70, 72, 74, 77, 78, 81. 

t IIol. Doc., iii., 82-89. Stuyvesant was married at Amsterdam to Judith Bayard, the 
daughter of a French Protestant refugee.— ii., N. Y. H. S. Coll., i., 400, 455. 



WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 433 

tendants, several soldiers and a number of free colonists chap. xii. 
and private traders now proceeded to New Netherland. 

The little squadron sailed from the Texel on Christmas 35 Dec. 
day, 1646. Running to the southward, the expedition 
visited the West Indies and Curacjoa ; and during the pro- stuyve- 
longed voyage, Stuyvesant's imperious temper gave fre- trary con- 
quent earnests of a future arbitrary rule. At Saint Chris- voyage, 
topher's, the Fiscal Yan Dyck, claiming a seat at the coun- 1647. 
cil board, to dispose of a captured prize, was rudely re- 
pelled — "When I want you, I will call you,' was Stuy- 
vesant's haughty reply. Renewing his attempt at Cura- 
(joa, the insulted fiscal met a still sterner rebuff, and was 
not allowed even a "stroll ashore" during the three weeks 
the ship lay at anchor there.* 

In the middle of May, nearly six months after his de- n May. 
parture from Holland, the newly-commissioned director lands at 

1 •iii\iri 'ill! 1 Manhattan. 

general arrived at Manhattan, and landed under a spon- 
taneous salute of the inhabitants. The " whole commu- 
nity" turned out under arms ; and there was so much 
shouting and firing, that almost all the powder in New 
Amsterdam was expended. "I shall govern you as a fa- 
ther his children, for the advantage of the chartered West 
India Company, and these burghers, and this land," said 
Stuyvesant, as he was about to assume the authority 
which Kieft had misused.! And the people went joy- 
ously home, with hopeful auguries of their new chief, 

* IIoI. Doe., vi., 62, 241. 

t Alb. Rec, Iv., 1 ; v., 3G ; xii., 30 ; Van Dincltlagen to Van der Donck, in Hoi. Doc, 
vi,, 32 ; Breeden Raedt, 27. 

E E 



434 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

1647-1648. 

ch. XIII. While Stuyvesant was commencing an administration 
~ which was to endure until the end of the Dutch domin- 

Anairs in _ 

the Father- ion ovci* Ncw Netherlaud, political events in Europe were 
gravely affecting the fortunes of the Fatherland. 

Frederick Henry, prince of Orange, who, since the death 
1647. of his brother Maurice in 1625, had been stadtholder of 
li^hoahethe United Provinces, died in the spring of 1647, at the 
^^pielier- ^gc of sixty-tlirec years. During his long term of pub- 
ick Henry, j^^ gcrvice, he had approved himself worthy of his exalted 
station ; and the judgment of posterity has pronounced 
him one of the wisest and best chief magistrates the 
United Netherlands ever possessed. Under the Act of 
Reversion, which the States of the provinces had passed 
in 1631, Frederick Henry's offices devolved, immediately 
Succeeded upoH his death, to his son, William II. The young prince 
n. burned to emulate his father's military renown ; but the 

nation, distrusting his inexperience, was unwilling to pro- 
long hostilities which Frederick Henry had anxiously de- 
Negotia- sired to terminate. The draft of a separate treaty with 
Munster. Spain was agreed to by the States Greneral, and instruc- 
tions to complete it were sent to their plenipotentiaries 
at Munster, in Westphalia. These orders excited bitter 
complaints on the part of France, that the United Provin- 
ces were about to violate the treaty which they had lately 
made with Louis XIV.; and Mazarin even ordered Tu- 
renne, who was on his march to Bohemia, to return to the 
frontiers of Luxemburg. But the Dutch ambassadors 
were in no mood to lend themselves to the cardinal's 



THE TREATY OF WESTPHALIA. 435 

crooked diplomacy ; and, in spite of the intrigues of the Ch. xiii 
French plenipotentiaries, the long -pending treaty was 
signed at Munster, in January, 1648, by the representa- treaty 
tives of the United Netherlands and of Spain. The treaty ajfjan^^, 
was immediately ratified by Philip IV., and by the sever- 
al states of the United Provinces ; and peace was solemn- peace pu^ 
ly proclaimed, on the fifth of June, amid demonstrations 5 June. ' 
of general joy. On the very day on which the Counts of 
Egmont and of Hoorn, the first martyrs for Batavian lib- 
erty, had been beheaded eighty years before, the undoubt- 
ed sovereignty of the republic was formally recognized by 
the King of Spain, and formally published at the Hague. 
A few months afterward, the tranquillity of Europe was se- 24 October, 
cured for a time by the definitive signature of the general westpua- 
treaty of Westphalia.* 

Thus, after eighty years of constant strife — intermitted 
only for twelve years by the truce of 1609 — the war 
which patriotism and justice commenced against tyranny 1568. 
and wrong, and which had cost Spain over fifteen hundred 
millions of ducats, was gloriously terminated by the full 1648. 
and absolute recognition of the sovereignty of the United 
Provinces. By the decree of unerring providence, the an- 
cient oppressors of the Netherlands hastened to propitiate 
the powerful republic they had at last distinctly recog- 
nized in the face of the world. Le Brun was sent as am- Spanish 
bassador to the Hague before Philip had himself received dlTr se^to 
one from the Dutch ; and in his address to the States Gren- 1649^ 
eral, on his first audience, the representative of Spain took^eJi-ne. 
especial pains to flatter the pride and conciliate the good- 
will of that nation with which his master was now anx- 
ious to be on the best terms. t 

The Dutch Republic, which, for nearly a century after The Dutch 
it first took its place in the rank of independent nations, ^"P""^'"" 
continued to sway the balance of European politics, owed 

■' * Corps Dip., vi., 429, 450 ; Basnage, Annales des Prov. Un., i., 102, 110 ; Grattan,262i 
Davies, ii., 645, 649; ante, p. 160. 

t "On remarqua qu'il aflectoit dans sa harangue de nommer la RijnibUque avant le 
Roi son maitre, et de rfip6ter souvent les titres (T Etat Puissant, Florissant, et Souverain.' 
— Basnage, i., p. 156. 



436 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Ck. xiii. its proud position to the moral qualities and free spirit of 
r~the people of the Netherlands ; to the constitution of their 
' government ; to their geographical situation ; their mari- 
time power ; their liberal commercial policy ; their spirit 
of universal toleration ; and to the wise statesmanship 
which attracted to their shores a winnowed population 
from other landsi 
TUB house The feudal sovereignty of the Netherlands had early 
dy. '"^^ ' centred in the house of Burgundy ; and Philip I., from 
1426. the time he became their chief, carefully respected the 
ancient rights and privileges of the Dutch. " Taxation 
only by consent," was the grand principle which the Ba- 
tavian burghers steadily asserted as the fundamental con- 
Phiiipi. dition of their obedience. And during Philip's sovereign- 
ty, the self-ruling spirit of the towns demanded and ob- 
tained successive enlargements of their franchises. 
Charles the The sliort and eventful rule of Philip's son, Charles the 
Bold, was not favorable to the liberties of the Dutch. Mil- 
itary service was the original feudal tenure of lands ; and 
the towns, which had commuted their liability by an ob- 
Ruyter- Hgatiou to pay a fixed " Ruytergeld," or militia rate, were 
*''''*■ constantly called upon to assist their warlike sovereign. 
But relief from oppression came before long, and it came 
from an unexpected qiiarter. Like the Dutch, the Swiss 
had early learned to depend upon their own unaided in- 
dustry. Kindred in spirit, the Helvetians lived among 
the mountains whence the Rhine flowed ; while the home 
of the Batavians was in the marshes where at length it 
Battle of reached the sea. At the memorable field of Morat, the 
1477 f°^'*^^^ ^^ ^'^^ impetuous Charles were overwhelmed ; and 
the fatal battle of Nanci, soon afterward, ended the brill- 
iant but ill-starred career of the last reigning Duke of 
Burgundy. 

On the death of Charles the Bold, the sovereignty of the 
Mnryof Netherlands passed to his only child Mary, then nineteen 
years of age ; and the Dutch at once determined to render 
secure those liberties which had been invaded, and to ex- 
tend still further the privileges they were resolved to en- 



THE GREAT CHARTER OF HOLLAND. 43^ 

joy. Three montlis after the accession of Mary, the first ch, xiii. 

assembly of the States Greneral was summoned at Ghent. 

1477 

To this assembly came the deputies of the Netherlands, ^^.^j^^ q^'^. 

with anxious thought and immovable determination, ^''^g,^' 
They told their young sovereign that they would support 
and assist her ; but, at the same time, they demanded of 
her the renouncement of prerogatives which had, of late 
years, made " great encroachments on the liberties and 
privileges of the provinces and towns." Mary was obliged 
to yield to the firm resolution of the States, and soon seal- 
ed patents of privileges for all the provinces of the Neth- 
erlands. The formal acknowledgment of the conditions creatciinr- 
apon which the popular allegiance was based was com- land, 
monly known among the Hollanders as their " Grreat Char- 
ter." It guaranteed and confirmed the ancient privileges 
of the municipal governments, and recognized the right of 
the towns, at all times, to confer with each other, and with 
the states of the Netherlands. It declared that no taxes Taxation 
should be imposed without the consent of the states ; and consent. 
it distinctly secured the freedom of trade and commerce.* 
To these vital principles the Dutch ever afterward clung 
with the noblest tenacity. 

Twenty-three years after the concession of the " Great cuaries v. 
Charter" of Holland, the future Emperor of G-ermany, 
Charles V., was born at G-hent. He was brought up in 1500. 
the Low Countries, where he passed the happiest of his 
years. Through his grandmother, Mary of Burgundy, he 
inherited the sovereignty of the Netherlands ; toward which 
country, during the greater part of his reign, he manifest- 
ed so much pai'tiality as to cause dissatisfaction to his 
Spanish subjects. At length he abdicated his enormous nis abJida 
empire; and the kingdom of Spain and the sovereignty of 1555 
the Netherlands passed to his son, Philip II. 

But the son, on succeeding to his father's hereditary phiiip u. 
dominions, did not inherit his father's political wisdom. 
Born at Valladolid, and educated in Spain, Philip knew but 
little of the ardent patriotism and love of liberty which 

* Groot Placaatbook, ii., 658 ; Barante, xi., 1 ; Davies, i., 284 ; McCullagh, ii., 129-139 



438 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XIII. distinguished the people of the Netherlands. No native 

"71 sympathies attached him to the Dutch. He came to the 

throne with all the strong prejudices of a Spanish king ; 

His bigotry and commenced his reign over the Low Countries without 

and despot- ,,.,,/.,. ^ . „,, . 

ism. the kmdly feelmg of a compatriot sovereign. Thinking 

that he could govern his Dutch subjects as a despot, and 
disregard their established laws, which the house of Bur- 
gundy had acknowledged and generally respected, he drove 
them into a Revolution, which resulted in the declaration 
of their national independence. 

Free spirit An indomitable spirit of civil liberty ever animated the 

lawiens. Batavians. Of all the subjects of imperial Rome, they 
were the bravest. Dwelling in the isles rather than on 
the banks of the Rhine, they desired to avoid incorpora- 
tion with the empire. Rome asked them not for contri- 
butions ; but in the hour of danger looked for their aid, as 
the javelin is sought for on the eve of battle.* 

Fourteen centuries after Tacitus thus vividly delineated 

the character of the early dwellers at the mouths of the 

Rhine, the writings of Luther were printed and publicly 

1518. sold in the provinces of Friesland and Holland. Thence- 

omauonin forward the Netherlanders resolved to shake off all shackles 
(Id Pries- upon the freedom of conscience. To their indomitable spir- 
it of civil liberty was now added a determined purpose of 
resistance to ecclesiastical intolerance. Friesland openly 
adopted the principles of the Reformation ; while Eras- 
mus, of Rotterdam, without actually declaring himself a 
disciple of Luther, did perhaps as much as any of the other 
advocates of religious reform to correct the abuses of the 
Church, t 
1540. The Spanish government presently attempted to impose 
restraints upon freedom of religion in the northern prov- 
inces of the Netherlands. Protestants were severely per- 

* " Omnium harum gentium virtute priBcipui Batavi, non multum ex ripa, sed insulam 
Rhsni amnis colunt, Catlorum quondam populus, et seditiono doniestica in oas sedes 
transgressus, in quibus pars Romani imperii fierent. Manet honos et antique socielatis 
insigno ; nam nee tributis contemnuntur, nee publieanus adlerit ; exempli operibus et 
collationibus, et tantum in usum praeliorum scpositi, velut tela alque arma bellis reser- 
▼antur."— Tacitus, De Mor. Gcr., 29. 

t Brandt, ii., 62, 63 ; Grattan, 07 ; Davies, i., 355 ; McCullagh, ii., 1. See also chapter 
Iv., ante, p. 100, et 8eq. 



land 



THE BEGINNING OF REVOLT IN HOLLAND. 439 

secuted. A modified species of Inquisition was introduced ch. xiii. 

into Holland. The writings of the Reformers were pro- 

• • 1549 

hibited. A succession of edicts against heretics, each more ^^.^j^j, ^^ 

rigorous than the last, marked the growing intolerance gg^gP,*"'*" 

which distinguished the decade preceding the pompous "**'"'• 

abdication of Charles V. 

The bigotry of Philip, so strongly in contrast to the mild 
spirit of Christianity, soon completed what Charles had 
begun. New bishoprics were erected, to provide, as the 1559. 
king alleged, for the spiritual wants of an increasing pop-^rMtsnew 
ulation, but more particularly for the extirpation of her- '"*•>''?"'*• 
esy. The measure was odious, not only to the clergy and 
the nobles, but more especially to the people, who had 
a firm conviction that its purpose was to support and in- 
crease the power of the Inquisition. Persecution was nowrersecu- 
carried on with increased vigor in most of the provinces, 
excepting those of Holland, Zealand, and Utrecht, of which 
William, prince of Orange, was stadtholder. The new 
decrees of the Council of Trent were published, and their 1565. 
enforcement proclaimed. Fresh edicts against heretics 
invested the clergy with almost unlimited power over the 
lives and property of the people. These edicts were no The popn- 
sooner published, than the popular mind became violently inflamed, 
inflamed. Pamphlets and placards were distributed and 
posted on the walls of the towns. The people were elo- 
quently exhorted to defend themselves against the Inqui- 
sition, and against the tyranny of the Spaniards. All ef- 
forts to discover the authors or printers of these unlicensed 
publications were unavailing. The spirit of liberty was 
aroused and at work.* 

It was quickly perceived that the people were on the eve 
of a revolt ; and the nobles, wishing to provide for their 
own security by leading public opinion, framed the famous 1 5<if 1. 
bond of alliance known as the " Compromise." By this '^''"''*' 

* Meteren, ii., 39; Davies, i., 520. It was on this occasion that a coin was issued 
from the Zealand Mint, stamped on the one side with the device of a dismasted ship, 
without a rudder, drifting on the waves, surrounded by the legend "Inceutum quo 
FATA FERENT ;" and on the other with the effigy of Hope holding her anchor, and point- 
ing to heaven, with the motto " Spes alma supersit." — Bizot, Med. Hist., 13 ; Van 
Loon, i., 72. 



440 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XIII. instrument, they bound themselves on oath to resist, "to 
the utmost of their power, the establishment of the In- 
Aiiiance of ^uisition. Under what name or pretext soever ; to sup- 
tbe nobles. pQj.^ ^j-^j assist each other as faithful friends and brothers ; 
and if any one of them were disquieted or molested on ac- 
count of this alliance, to devote their lives and properties 
to his protection." 

The confederated nobles soon took occasion to present a 
remonstrance on the state of public affairs to the Duchess 
of Parma, as governess of the Netherlands. As they ap- 
5 April, proached the court at Brussels, on foot, plainly dressed, 
and unarmed, the Count of Barlaimont remarked to the 
governess that she had no cause of fear, since "they were 
Origin of only a troop of beggars (gueux)." The taunting exprcs- 
"Gueux." sion was eagerly caught up, and went from mouth to 
mouth. "It is no shame," said the patriotic noblemen, 
" to be beggars for our country's good." A feast was 
given the same evening by the Lord of Brederode, at 
which nearly three hundred guests were present. " Vivent 
les gueux," resounded through the apartment. Brederode, 
bringing in a wooden vessel, such as the pilgrims used, 
pledged the company to the health of the " gueux ;" the 
cup went round ; the Prince of Orange, and the Counts 
of Egmont and Hoorn, joined in the pledge ; and the epi- 
thet that levity suggested was soon seriously adopted as a 
party appellation and watch- word by all who were hostile 
to the measures of Philip's government. The gray garb 
of beggars became a political uniform. The taxes were 
no longer paid. A great Revolution was at hand.* 
The Duke Philip immediately j)repared to send the Duke of Alva 
totheNeiii- with a vast army into the Netherlands, to chastise his re- 
bellious subjects. The " beggars" began to lay in stores 
of arms ; and as the news of Alva's coming reached Brus- 
Aupisi. sels, the "Iconoclasts" began to destroy the images of the 

The Icono- . . . ,. i • i 1,1 i 

«ta«ts- saints. W ith electric rapidity the impulse spread through 
all the provinces. Religious enthusiasm soon ran into 
riotous excess. In nearly every town and village the 

* Mctercn, ii., 40, 41 ; Brandt, vi., 294 ; Davies, i., 520-523. 



THE REVOLUTION IN THE NETHERLANDS. 44I 

churches were attacked ; images were thrown down ; ch. xiii. 
monuments were defaced ; windows of painted glass, the ~TZZ~ 
unrivaled magnificence of which challenged the admira- 
tion of Europe, were destroyed. Within three days, more 
than four hundred churches, including those at the Hague, 
Leyden, and Amsterdam, were despoiled.* 

The Duke of Alva presently began his bloody work. 1567. 
The patriot Counts of Egmont and Hoorn were arrested. 
The Inquisition was established, and the penal edicts en- 
forced with the utmost rigor. Aspirations after civil and 
religious freedom were punished as treason against the 
king. The privileges and liberties which the Dutch had 
so long and so devotedly cherished were annihilated by 
the erection of a " Council of Troubles," which soon re- 
ceived the name it well merited, "The Council of Blood. "xue coun- 

•n 1 • -111 r 1 • -11 -1 cil of Blood. 

brom the n'responsibie decrees 01 this terrible tribunal 
there was no appeal. In the execution of its sanguinary 
judgments there was no mercy. The whole land was 
covered with gibbets ; and in a few weeks eighteen hund- 
red victims perished by the hand of the executioner. t 

The spirit of the Netherlanders rose against the tyran- The Dutch 

. . -, - , rebel 

ny of their oppressors. Louis ot Nassau, brother ol the against 
Prince of Orange, entered the province of G-roningen at 
the head of a party of the " Gueux," and routed the did-24May. 
ciplined troops of Spain. This was the commencement 
of actual ho.stilities. Exasperated at the defeat of his 
forces, Alva instantly brought the Counts of Egmont and 3 June. 
Hoorn to a mock trial. They were at once condemned to 
death; and on the morning of the fifth of June, 1568, the 1568. 
proto-martyrs for the Dutch Republic were beheaded in Execution 
the great square before the Hotel de Ville at Brussels. aLf iioorn- 
As soon as the fatal work was done, the people pressed 
around the scaffold, and dipped their handkerchiefs in the 
blood ; vowing, after the manner of their forefathers, to 
leave their beards and hair uncut until the wrongs of their 
country and the murders of her sons were avenged. $ And 
they nobly kept their faith. 

♦ Meteren, 11., 44. t Davles, 1., 548, 553. t Meteren, 11., 58; Davles, i., 561. 



442 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. xiii. Driven from their own country, many of the Gueux 

sought refuge in England. But Alva peremptorily re- 

■ quired Elizabeth not to afford encouragement to the rebel 

The Gueux subjccts of Spain. The queen assented to Alva's demand, 

refuge in and Ordered the Grueux to quit her ports. Thus expelled 

from their last refuge, a party of the patriots under the 

command of William van de Marck, who had joined in 

the romantic vow to avenge the murders of E^rmont and 

1572. Hoorn, suddenly appeared before the town of Brielle, at 
c^^ure of the mouth of the Maese, and captured it with little oppo- 
the Brielle. gj^^j^jj rpj^g Gucux wcrc ouce morc on their native land. 

The standard of revolt was soon openly set up in Hol- 
land. Alva attempted to enforce a levy of one penny in 
The people cvcry ten. But the people — faithful to their hereditary 
pay Alva's principle of "Taxation only by consent" — resisted the de- 
tax, mand. It was not the payment of the tax itself that they 
resisted so much as the mode of its levy. " Omnia dabant 
ne decimam darent."* They periled every thing to stop 
the exaction of an arbitrary tithe. Deputies from the no- 
june. bles and from the towns, meeting at Dordrecht, acknowl- 
edged the Prince of Orange as stadtholder, and voted lev- 
ies of money and of men to oppose the encroaching tyran- 
Hacriem ny of Spain.! Haerlem was closely besieged by the Span- 
maer be- iards, and forced to surrender, after seven months of almost 

sieged. 11 1 1 n^ • •\t ^ i ■ 

1573. unparalleled sunermg. Yet the conquest cost the victors 
14 July, twelve thousand men. Alckmaer, too, was invested ; but 
10 October, the pcoplc, cuttiug tlirough the dik€is, deluged the Spanish 

camp, and the besieging army fled. The Prince of Orange 
and the States of Holland, in a long letter to the king, 
which was soon printed and distributed among the people, 
complained of the open violation of their liberties, under 
The people pretense of securing the Roman religion. "We contend 
ertyofcou- for nothing less," said the States, "than for freedom of con- 
science, our wives and children, our lives and fortunes. "$ 

* Grotius, Annals, ii., 49. 

t The famous Dutch national song, " Wilhelmus van Nassauwen," is said to have 
been composed this year. lis author is not known with certainty. Some ascribe it to 
Philip van Murnix, lord of Saint Aldegonde ; others to Dirck Volkcrtsen Koornhect. — 
Brandt, x., 535 ; Davies, ii., 3G2. t Brandt, x., 545. 



THE UNIVERSITY OF LEYDEN FOUNDED. 443 

Alva was now recalled, though Philip did not relax his ch. xiii. 
efforts to subjugate the people of the Netherlands. Ley- 
den, besieged by an enormous Spanish army, was bravely November. 
defended by its burgher guards alone. The States of Hoi- cMc±' 
land, assembled at Rotterdam, finding that it was idle to 1574. 
think of breaking the blockade with any forces which they sieged." 
could muster, resolved, at the suggestion of the Prince of 
Orange, to cut the dikes and open the sluices, so as to 
admit vessels with supplies up to the gates of the famish- 
ed city. The damage was estimated at an enormous sum ; 
" but," said the patriotic deputies, " it is better that the 

country should be ruined than lost." The dikes were cut ; The people 

11111 '^^^ *''^ 
the waters of the Meuse rushed over the land; flat- bot- dikes. 

tomed boats, loaded with provisions, rode in triumph over 
the waves ; the Spaniards abandoned the sixty-two forts 
they had erected around the besieged city ; and Leyden 
was saved. The liberated inhabitants repaired to their 3 oeiober. 
principal church, to offer thanks to that God "who had 
made for them a sea upon the dry land." In commemo- 
ration of the siege, the States of Holland offered to found 
either a university or a fair at Leyden. The citizens Leyden 
chose a university, which was established the next year, founded. 
and in the learning of Grotius, Scaliger, Boerhaave, and 
others of its sons, has proved a noble monument to the 
heroic cause which gave it birth.* 

Negotiations were presently opened, on the part of Hoi- 1575. 
land, for an accommodation with Philip. But Don Louis 
de Requesens, the new Spanish viceroy,! insisting, as aRequesens 
preliminary, that the service of the Reformed Church ^"^*'™^' 
should wholly cease, and that the Reformed clergy should 
leave the country, it soon tecame evident that no recon- 
ciliation could take place with the bigoted king. A year 1576. 
afterward, the atrocious sack of Antwerp aroused the ab- Antwerp. 

* Meteren, v., 107 ; Davies, ii., 14, 15. 

t Requesens was perhaps the ablest of tlie Spanish governors of the Low Countries. 
To him the Netherlands are, at all events, indebted for the introduction, in 1575, of the 
uniform system of reckoninff the year as beginning on the Ist of January. The States of 
Holland had long before adopted this calculation, and endeavored, as early as 1532, to 
bring it into general use. The Gregorian, or new style, was adopted by Holland in 1582 ; 
but it was not by England until the year 1753. 



444 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XIII. horrenco of Europe, and hastened the signature of an 
agreement among the provinces, commonly known as the 

Pacification " Pacification of Grhent." The articles of this treaty pro- 

of Ghent, yidcd for a full amnesty for all offenses ; for a firm alliance 
between the provinces, and mutual assistance to expel the 
Spaniards ; for the toleration of both Catholics and Prot- 
estants; for the suspension of the penal edicts; and that no 
decrees of the king were to be published without the con- 
sent of the Prince of Orange and the States of the several 

8 Nov. provinces. The publication of this instrument was re- 
ceived with the liveliest joy throughout the Netherlands ; 
and the great charter of union was thenceforward consid- 
ered as the fundamental law of the country. An envoy 
was immediately sent to England to solicit the assistance 

Elizabeth of the quceu ; and Elizabeth promptly aijreed to a loan of- 

assists the i i ^ ^ 

Dutch. one hundred thousand pounds to the States, upon condition 
that they should not make any treaty without her partici- 
pation.* 
Don John, Early the next year, Don John of Austria, who had suc- 
viceroy. " ' cccdcd Rcqucsens as viceroy, accepted the Pacification of 
p Ghent, and issued the famous " Perpetual Edict," by which 

he consented to the assembling of the States Cieneral, and 
to the departure of the Spanish forces.! But Don John 
was only dissembling. He had secretly dispatched letters 
to Spain, asking for new supplies of troops; and these let- 
ters having been intercepted, were published by the Prince 
of Orange. No time was now to be lost. The citadel of 
Antwerp, and other important fortresses, were immediate- 
ly occupied by the troops of the States. William of Or- 
anfje was invited to Brussels, and elected Governor of Bra- 
bant. An embassy was again*dispatched to London ; and 
contin- Elizabeth engaged to send troops into the Netherlands, and 
Uopsfur- supply them with another hundred thousand pounds. The 
Kiizabcth. quccu Hkcwisc obtained the concession that the command- 
er of her forces should have a seat in the Council of State, 
and that any disputes which might arise between the prov- 
inces should be referred to her.t 

* Meteren, vi., 125, 131. t Ibid., vi., 132. t Ibid., vii., 144. 



I 



THE UNION OF UTRECHT. 445 

Open war was now declared. The Pope proclaimed a ch. xni. 
crusade against the heretics in the Netherlands, and bless- 
ed the crucifix in the banner of Don John. The bull of jgFeb. 
G-regory XIII. influenced the Walloon provinces, the most procLimed. 
of the inhabitants of which were attached to the Roman The south 
religion, to withdraw Irom the common cause, and adopt inces with- 
a policy of neutrality. William of Orange soon saw that 
the real hope for safety and success was a cordial and firm 
alliance of the northern provinces of the Netherlands. A 
new Assembly was therefore convoked at Utrecht, under 
the auspices of his brother, Count John of Nassau, which 
was attended by delegates from the provinces of Holland, 
Zealand, Utrecht, G-uelderland, and the Ommcland of Grron- 
ingen. After waiting several days for deputies from the 1579. 
other provinces, those assembled proclaimed, on their ownuiuoriy' 
authority, the famous " Union of Utrecht," framed, as its crn p'.'ov- 
preamble declared, "for the purpose of protecting them- uti-e^eht 
selves against the attempts of the Spaniards to separate 
and dismember the provinces, and to render the Pacifica- 
tion of Ohent of none effect, and thereby to bring them 
into subjection and slavery."* This " Union," which was 
soon afterward acceded to by the provinces of Friesland, 
Overyssel, and Groningen, became the fundamental basis 
of the Dutch Republic ; virtually disowning the authority 
of )Spain ; preserving to each province its own sovereign- 
ty, and its own peculiar laws and privileges ; granting to 
all the unmolested exercise of their own religion ; provid- 
ing for a uniform currency ; restraining any one province 
from making foreign alliances without the consent of the 
rest ; and consolidating an indissoluble connection of all 
the " United Provinces of the Netherlands," for mutual 
defense and protection, in the spirit of their patriotic mot- 
to, '■^ Eendragt maakt magV^ — Unity makes might. 

For a time, the Dutch preserved some show of respect 
for the person and the name of the king. But finding, be- 
fore long, that instead of relieving them from the evils which 
I they had suffered, he was resolved to oppress them still 

* Meteren, viii., 148 ; Davies, ii., 74-79. 



446 HISTORY OF THE STxVTE OF NEW YORK. 

CH. xiii. further, they determined to affix the seal to their charter 
"~ of liberty, by openly renouncing all allegiance to Philip II. 

Following the example of the province of Holland, the 
States General solemnly executed their deliberate purpose. 
1581. Assembling in large numbers at the Hague, they publish- 
Tue'u'liited ed a declaration, asserting the great truth that "subjects 
dedare'^*^ are uot Created for the prince, but the prince for the sub- 
pemlence. jccts," who havc always the right to abjure allegiance to 
a bad sovereign ; and, after enumerating the offenses com- 
mitted by Philip against the laws and the liberties of the 
Netherlands, declaring him, " ipso jure,'''' deposed from his 
sovereignty, right, and heritage in the Low Countries, and 
the inliabitants released from all fealty to their repudiated 
king. This remarkable State Paper, which for its clear 
conceptions of the principles of political freedom, and its 
distinct assertion of the rights and powers of the people, 
was the wonder of its age, had scarcely a parallel in his- 
tory — except, perhaps, the " Declaration of Right" of 1688, 
under which the Prince of Orange, a native Dutchman, 
ascended the English throne as "William III. — until nearly 
two centuries afterward, when the representatives of the 
1776. United States of America threw off the yoke of Grreat Brit- 
ain, and published their Declaration of Independence.* 

It is needless to trace, in detail, the progress of public 
events in the Netherlands for the next sixty-seven years. 
During the first part of that period, the nominal sovereign- 
ty of the country was vested, for a short time, in the Duke 
of Anjou, but the executive power was virtually exercised 
by William, prince of Orange, the stadtholder of Holland, 
1584. Zealand, and Utrecht. The assassination of the prince at 
Murdi^rof Delft, in the midst of his friends, and in the heart of a 
c)r!in"T"'^ country where he was loved almost to veneration, com- 
pelled new arrangements. "William's second son, Maurice, 
was immediately named governor by the States General, 
Maurice and was also created stadtholder of the provinces of Hol- 
Shoid- land and Zealand. It soon became obvious, however, from 
the unremitted exertions of the King of Spain, that foreign 

' Meteren, x., 209 ; Davieg, ii., 102-111. See also Appendix, note P. 



successes 
of the 
Dutch. 



r 



THE DUTCH DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 447 

aid must be obtained, or the Netherlands would be in ch. xiii. 
danger of subjugation, A solemn embassy, headed by the 
patriot Olden Barneveldt, was therefore sent to England, 
and Elizabeth consented to the appointment of her favor- The Eari 
ite Leicester as governor general of the provinces in her governor 

mi 1 J 1 -1 general. 

name, ihe queen also sent a large army to assist the 
Dutch, from whom she obtained the pledge of Flushing, 
Rammekens, and the Brielle, until her expenses should be 1585. 
repaid. But Leicester soon rendered himself so unpopu- 
lar with the Dutch, that within two years he was recall- 
ed. The campaigns of the Dutch armies were conducted 
with splendid success by the youthful stadtholder. Prince 
Maurice, and the Dutch fleets were almost invariably vie- constant 
torious on the seas. The proud King of Spain, ruined by of the 
constant losses, was obliged to declare his insolvency ; and 
soon afterward the baffled and humiliated monarch sunk 
into the grave. Philip IIL was, if possible, still more hos- 1598. 
tile toward the Dutch than his father had been ; but it 
was his fate to see them achieve the political independence 
for which they panted. In 1609, he was obliged to sign 1609. 
a truce for twelve years with his victorious foes, and to ad- 
mit them formally to a participation in the Indian trade. 
At the end of the truce, hostilities were renewed, only to 1621. 
end in the full, free, and unequivocal acknowledgment of 
the sovereignty of the Netherlands by Philip IV., in the 
treaty at Munster, of 1648. Thus, inch by inch, and year 1648. 
by year, through nearly three generations of men, and^fumpu"^ 
against three successive kings of Spain, the Dutch con- 
tended for their liberties ; and their unanimous spirit of 
popular freedom at last obtained its noble and triumphant 
reward. 

The Dutch manifesto of 1581 was the necessary result The Dutch 
of that irrepressible spirit of civil liberty which ever ani- erning peo- 
mated the descendants of the Batavians. The declara- 
tion of their independence of Spain was merely a formal 
assertion of their right to govern themselves. Practically, 
Holland had governed herself long before ; practically, she 
had governed herself from the time her toil-trained burgh- 



448 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



1648. 

Character 
of the 
Dutch. 



Their sys- 
t'jni of ad- 
minisira- 
lion as a re- 
ruhlic. 



The States 
General. 



ers first maintained the right of self-assessment, and wrung 
from Mary of Burgundy the " Great Charter" of 1477. 
For many ages the Dutch had heen accustomed to think 
for themselves, to do, and to endure ; to rely with calm 
courage upon their own unaided efforts ; to act with stern 
energy and firm will ; to fight, from youth to age, " their 
fathers' fight" against the inexorable elements ; to med- 
itate toilsome enterprises at their firesides, and counsel 
great deeds together in their villages and towns ; to trust 
with undouhting confidence their neighbor's word ; to be- 
lieve, with steady faith, that work is the true lot of man, 
in which each one is hound to be diligently employed. 
They were earnest, self-relying men, in whom the habit 
of personal independence had created the desire of sep- 
arate nationality.* It was not the revolt of the Nether- 
land Provinces from Spain, nor the union of the Nether- 
land Provinces at Utrecht, which made the Dutch a nation 
of heroes, and statesmen, and patriots, any more than it 
was the revolt of the American colonies from England, or 
the confederation of the American States, which made the 
people of the United States a brave, capable, and patriotic 
people. The characters of both nations had been gradual- 
ly formed by long years of experience in self-government, 
and by long endurance of oppression and suffering, before 
they openly renounced their allegiance to their sovereigns, 
and took the administration of their own affairs entirely 
into their own hands. 

With the declaration of the national independence of the 
Dutch came the necessity of modifying their system of ad- 
ministration ; and the people of the United Provinces soon 
matured a form of government better adapted to their po- 
litical condition as a commonwealth. The management 
of the affairs of the republic was vested in five chief pow- 
ers: the States Greneral; the Council of State ; the Cham- 
ber of Accounts; the Stadtholdcr, and the Colleges of the 
Admiralty. Each province appointed its own deputies to 
sit in the assembly of the States General, and regulated 

* Richessc dc la Holl., i., pref., 9 ; McCullagh, li., 235, 237, 238. 



THE STATES GENERAL OF THE NETHERLANDS. 449 

their numbers, the modes of their choice, and the periods ch. xiii 
of their service. But, in conformity to established regu- ^ 
lation, each province had only one suffrage in the States 
Cieneral, whatever might be the number of its deputies. 

The States Greneral usually sat at the Hague. It was cuaraitor 

...-,,, and func- 

not, in a true sense, a representative body, but rather ationsofthe 
deputation. It had no claim to sovereignty. It obeyed erai. 
the instructions of its constituents to the letter. When a 
new subject was introduced, new directions were applied 
for to the provinces. Neither war nor peace could be made 
without the unanimous consent of these provinces. Nei- 
ther money nor troops could be raised without the same 
unanimity. Yet, with all the restrictions on its power, 
the States Greneral had much influence and authority. It 
received and appointed ambassadors, and conducted the 
foreign relations of the republic ; and the reports which it 
addressed to the different provinces usually had great ef- 
fect upon the resolutions which each adopted. The aver- 
age number of deputies at the ordinary meetings of the 
States Greneral was about twelve or fourteen. These meet- 
ings were held in an oblong and beautifully-decorated 
apartment in the old palace of the Binnenhof, or "inner 
court," which formed a part of the ancient residence of the 
Counts of Holland at the Hague. The Grrand Pensionary 
of Holland, who was always a member, the " G-reffier," or 
Clerk of the States Greneral, the Treasurer of the Union, 
and the Secretary of the Council of State, formed what 
may perhaps be called the " ministry." Of these, the G-ref- 
fier was generally the man of affairs ; and in his small, 
modestly-furnished ofhce, adjoining the decorated apart- 
ment of the States Gfeneral, the gravest concerns of the re- 
public were often arranged, and foreign ambassadors fre- 
quently transacted their most important business. In the 
assembly of the States Greneral, each province presided in 
turn for a week. The presiding deputy proposed all ques- 
tions ; directed the GrefFier to read all papers ; put the 
question, and announced the conclusion. The States Gen- 
eral were frequently denominated the " G-eneraletiet ;" 

Fp 



450 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XIII. their formal title was " Hoogh Mogende Heeren," " High 
and Mighty Lords." 

Councilor The Council of State, which was next in authority to 

State. ^i^g States General, was established in 1584, and consist- 
ed of twelve members, exclusive of the Treasurer General. 
It was composed of three members from Holland, two from 
Zealand, two from Friesland, two from Guelderland, one 
from Utrecht, one from Overyssel, and one from Gronin- 
gen. The authority of this council was confined to mili- 
tary and financial affairs, and m most instances it could 
adopt no resolution without the concurrence of the States 
General. 

chainberof Tlic " Rckenkamcr," or Chamber of Accounts, which 

.Recounts. • -i r i ■ r i • 

consisted of two deputies from each province, was estab- 
lished in 1607, to relieve the Council of State from the 
management of the details of the collection and disburse- 
ment of the revenue. 
stadthoid- The stadtholder was captain general, and admiral of the 
land and naval forces of the republic. His dignity was 
originally not hereditary, but elective by the provinces. 
During war he disposed of all military grades, and con- 
ducted all military operations as general in chief. The 
stadtholder being at the same time admiral of the naval 
forces of the republic, the commanders of the separate 
fleets were called "lieutenant admirals." The stadthold- 
er might at any time enter the hall of the States General 
to propose public measures. But he had no vote, and no 
right to deliberate. During his presence debate was sus- 
pended ; and when the object of his visit was attained, he 
left the Assembly. After William I., the dignity of stadt- 
holder was continued, by successive elections, in the fam- 
ily of the Prince of Orange until 1672, when William HI. 
procured it to be made hereditary. 
The Adini- Tlicrc wcrc five colleges of the Admiralty ; the first at 
" ^' Rotterdam, the second at Amsterdam, the third at Hoorn, 
the fourth at Middlcburg, and the fifth at Harlingen, in 
Friesland. They watched over the defense of the coasts ; 
furnished convoys ; equipped the fleets ; judged in prize 



THE PROVINCE OF HOLLAND. 451 

cases, and in cases of fraud against the revenue ; and nom- ch. xiii. 
inated subaltern naval officers. " 

Of all the provinces, Holland v^as the most important, province of 
hy reason of its population and its wealth. Hence its name Holland. 
was often applied to the confederacy, and the inhabitants 
of all the United Provinces were frequently called " Hol- 
landers," by way of eminence. Being the richest and most 
populous of the provinces, Holland soon obtained an as- 
cendency in the confederation which was not altogether 
unjust, since Holland, above all the others, bore most of 
the burden, and did most for the general service of the re- 
public* By reason of this preponderance, the provincial 
states of Holland bore the title of " Edel, Grroot, Mogende 
Heeren," Noble, Great, and Mighty Lords ; while the states 
of the other provinces were addressed in the simpler style 
of " Edel Mogende." The provincial states of Holland Provincial 
were composed of deputies from the nobles, and deputies HoiiTnd. 
from the several towns. Of these, the number was indef- 
inite ; but the entire body of nobles had only one vote, 
while each of the eighteen towns had likewise a vote. The 
whole number of suffrages was thus nineteen, of which the 
nobles controled only one. 

The chief magistrate of the province was at first called Grand Pei:. 
the Advocate General, and afterward the " Grand Pension- Holland" 
ary." He had great influence in the states ; for though 
he could not vote, his advice was always asked in affairs 
of moment. He was elected for five years by the states, 
but was generally continued in office during life by re- 
election. He propounded subjects of discussion ; was the 
keeper of the great seal of Holland, and the speaker or 
presiding officer of the states ; and was their permanent 

* By a regulation of the Council of State of the 10th of December, 1612, the fixed rata- 
bility of the several provinces was thus assigned : 

Holland gl. 57 14 8 

Friesland 11 10 11 

Zealand 9 1 10 

Groningen 5 15 6 

Utrecht 5 15 5 

Guelderland 5 n 2 

Overyssel 3 10 8 

Total (including Drenthe) 100 



452 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XIII. special representative in the assembly of the States Gren- 
eral. In cases of differences of opinion, he was generally 
engaged in overcoming the scruples of the minority ; be- 
ing, according to Grrotius, vox publico; libertatis, proet'f 
suadendo, componit dissidentes;^^ the voice of public lib- 
erty, he influences by persuasion, and reconciles the dis- 
senting." He was in truth the eyes, ears, and mouth of 
the provincial states. 

The " G-ecommiteerde Raden," or College of Council- 
Gocommit- mcn, was composed of ten deputies ; one from the body of 
den. nobles, and nine from the towns. It watched over the 
finances of the province, and decided in suits between the 
farmers of the revenue and the tax-payers. It also had 
jurisdiction over the military affairs of the province ; and 
two of its deputies were constantly members of the States 
(General. 

The sovereign power of the province did not, however. 
The sover- reside in the states of Holland, but in the constituencies 
the peoj)ie. of the deputies. The real authorities were the college of 
nobles, and the municipal councils of the towns. To them 
each deputy was responsible for his vote, and under their 
instructions alone he acted. Thus the government of Hol- 
land, in fact, rested mainly upon its people. 

Trained in a school of diversified industry, the Dutch 
I'ldustriai embodied in the form of their government the principles 
iratic spirit wliich agcs of stcm expericuce had implanted in the na- 
Dutch. tional mind. The early and constant necessity for the 
construction of dikes gave them a habit of union and good- 
will, and imbued them with a propensity to reciprocal jus- 
tice, because, by unanimity and honesty alone could their 
country be saved from the sea. They were forced by na- 
ture to be industrious from the first. Their labor-trained 
energies were essential elements of their national wealth 
and happiness. They relied upon themselves. Their first 
political lessons were lessons in self-government. And thn> 
one of the earliest schools of modern democracy was e,-^- 
tablished in Holland.* 

* Baanage; Davies; Meyer, Inst. Jud., iii., 22-25; Rev. Dr. Dethune 



THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENTS OF HOLLAND. 453 

The most striking feature in their political organization ch. xiii. 
was localism. Holland was an a^gres^ate of towns, each ~~ 

providing for its own defense, administering its own finan- Localism, 
ces, and governing itself by its own laws. The inhabit- 
ants of the towns were not, however, all upon an equality. 
To entitle a resident to every municipal franchise, the 
"burgher recht," or burghership, must be acquired. This Burgher- 
burghership was generally obtained by the payment of a^ '''' 
sum of money, and the registry of the citizen's name upon 
the roll of burghers. It was hereditary ; it could pass by 
marriage ; and it could be acquired by females as well as 
by males. Foreigners, also, after a year's probation, could 
become burghers. The burgher right gave to the citizen 
freedom of trade, exemption from tolls, special privileges 
and favors in prosecutions, and an exclusive eligibility to 
municipal othce. The burghers were, generally, mer- 
chants and tradesmen. The several trades and profes- ouiids, or 
sions formed themselves into separate associations called uons. 
" guilds," or fraternities, the members of which were bound 
to assist each other in distress, and stand by each other in 
time of danger. Each guild inhabited, for the most part, 
a separate quarter of the town ; was organized as a mili- 
tary company ; fought under its own standard ; and was 
presided over by a " Dekken," or Dean, 

The government of each town was administered by a Municipal 
" Wethouderschap," or Board of Magistrates, consisting of ments. 
several burgomasters, and a certain number of schepens, 
or aldermen. This board of wethouders provided for the 
public safety, attended to the police, mustered the burgh- 
er guard in case of danger, administered the finances, and 
assessed the taxes to be paid by each individual. In gen- 
eral, the term of oflice was annual. The burgomasters Burgomas- 
and schepens were chosen by the eight or nine "good men" iMen, and 
elected by the " Vroedschap," or great council of the town, schap. 
which was itself composed, in most cases, of all the inhab- 
itants who possessed a certain property qualification. 
There was also another important officer, named the 
" schout," who, in early times, was appointed by theschout. 



454 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XIII. Count, out of a triple nomination by the wethouders. The 
""""""" functions of the schout — whose name, accordinar to Grro- 
tius, was an abbreviation of " schuld-rechter," or a judge 
of crimes — were somewhat analogous to those of bailitf, 
or county sheriff; combining, however, with them some 
of the duties of a prosecuting attorney.* Thus the towns 
themselves were aggregates of voluntary associations of 
burghers ; and the burghers, looking upon their towns as, 
to a certain extent, their nation, firmly insisted, through 
all vicissitudes, on being governed by representatives of 
their own classes. 
Effects of The local municipal system of the Dutch, which jeal- 
pai system, ous cucmies Continually prophesied would end in disunion, 
was, in truth, their salvation. Bound together by the 
strongest ties of reciprocal interest, the community of fam- 
ilies, of guilds, of towns, of provinces, became invincible. 
Subjugation was impossible, when each individual city, 
was endued with the spirit of the whole province, and 
each province was a fresh nation to conquer. As the only 
form of political liberty which the Dutch had really known 
was localism, so, in the organization of their general gov- 
ernment, they only expanded the system which was the 
very core of their existence. The self-relying burghers 
governed the towns ; the representatives of the towns and 
of the rural nobility governed the several provinces ; and 
the several " states" of the respective provinces claimed 
supreme jurisdiction within their own precincts. The dep- 
uties which each constituent province sent to the States 
General were rather envoys, with limited powers, than 
plenipotentiary representatives. They had explicit in- 
structions which they dared not exceed ; and in every case 
of importance they were obliged to ask the directions of 
their Provincial Legislatures. Thus jealously did the 
Dutch restrain the limits of the political power they in- 
trusted to their representatives. 

The States General was, in one sense, an aggregate as- 

* Guiccianlini.ii., 160-180; Grotius, Inleyding, 127 ; Moyer,Inst.Jmi.,iii., 160-186; Van 
Leeuwen's Roirian Dutch Law, i., 15 ; Van der Linden, i., ch. ii., ^ 4 ; Wagenaar, Bescli. 
van Ainst., iii., 141-161, 269-355 ; Davies, 1., 76-90 ; ante, p. 326, 327 ; post, p. 474. 



SOCIAL RESULTS OF THE DUTCH SYSTEM. 455 

sembly of the states of the provinces, each of which might ch. xiu 
send an unlimited number of deputies.* The votes, how- 
ever, were taken, as we have already seen, not according provincial 
to the number of individual deputies, but according to the turstaLs' 
number of the provinces represented ; and there were, there- '^'^"'^"' 
fore, never more than seven. By this system, each prov- 
ince maintained its own due weight and influence in the 
affairs of the republic. The doctrine of State Rights, Doctrine of 
which forms so vital a principle in the American confed- Rights, 
eration, was, from the first, a distinguishing characteristic 
in the union of the provinces of the Netherlands. 

The results which followed this union of self-confiding social re- 
communities in one firm association signally attested the Dutch po- 
wisdom of the Dutch in thus making their national gov- tcm. 
ernment reflect the national mind. All were stimulated 
to a noble competition ; all felt a personal interest in the 
common weal and the common woe. The nobles of Hol- 
land had the wisdom to identify their interests with those 
of the people ; and, in return, the nobility were permit- 
ted, without jealousy, to enjoy a large share of political 
influence and public honors. " Those families who live 
upon their patrimonial estates," says the courtly but can- 
did Temple, " are differently mannered from the traders, 
though like them in garb and habit. Their youth are 
generally bred up at schools and universities ; and when 
they are rich, they travel for some years, after the course 
of their studies at home. The chief end of their breeding 
is to make them fit for the service of their country." Thus 
educated for the business of state, it is not surprising that 
the descendants of the old Dutch nobles were intrusted 
by a business people, who esteemed fitness above all things, 
with a greater proportion of important public functions 
than were conferred upon men of their own order.! At 
the same time, the constitutional government of Holland 
seems from the first to have recognized the principle that 
her great commercial interests could be adequately repre- 

* Basnage, i., 14, 15. When the Twelve Years' truce with Spain was ratified at Ber- 
gen-op- Zoom, eight hundred members attended the meeting of the States General. 
t Temple, ch. iv, ; Har. Misc., ii., 599. 



456 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XIII. sented only by commercial men. The success of the 
Dutch was attributed, by a shrewd observer, to the lead- 
' ing circumstance that, "in their greatest councils of state 
and war, they have trading merchants, who have not only 
the theoretical knowledge, but the practical experience of 
trade."* This happy absence of class jealousies consoli- 
dated the social as well as the political constitution of the 
republic ; and thought, speech, enterprise, and commerce, 
unfettered by illiberal regulations, assured the prosperity 
of the wise people who so earnestly, so steadily, and so 
successfully vindicated their capacity to govern themselves. 
Prosperity Aiid great, indeed, was their prosperity. It was not 
Dutch. because Holland enjoyed great natural advantages. On 
the contrary, nature gave her a sandy and marshy soil. 
The surface of Holland is flat, like the sea in a calm, and 
looks as if, after a long contention, it had been divided be- 
tween land and water. The elements are there at con- 
stant variance. The fat soil is made into turf and burn- 
ed ; the excavated land is drained by countless wind-mills. 
Not a block of stone nor an ore of metal can be found 
within her territory. The granite with which the Dutch 
faced their dikes and built their palaces was brought from 
other lands. Their country yielded them " almost nothing 
out of its own bowels."! All the corn which was raised 
in Holland was not sufficient to feed the men employed in 
keeping the dikes in repair. Yet the indefatigable people 
who inhabited this barren region became one of the rich- 
est in the world. An infinity of sails crowded her endless 
canals. The Rhine and the Maese brought down the com- 
modities of G-ermany to the magazines of her merchants, 
who, in the days of her power and glory, were accustomed 
to "vent them by their shipping into all parts of the world 
where the market calls for them."$ In the year 1650, the 
whole population of Holland was estimated at two millions 
four hundred thou.sand souls. Of these, De Witt supposed 
that six hundred and fifty thousand lived by manufactur- 

♦ Sir J. Child, Discovery of Trade. t De Witt, i., ch 9. 

t Har. Misc., ii., 597. 



PROSPERITY OF THE DUTCH. 457 

ing articles for exportation ; as many more were employed ch. xiii. 
in trades, and in contributing to the pleasure, ease, or com- ~T 
fort of those who dwelt at home ; four hundred and fifty 
thousand subsisted by the fisheries, and other callings de- 
pendent on them ; two hundred and fifty thousand by nav- 
igation and commerce ; two hundred thousand by agricul- 
ture ; and a like number by civil and military public serv- 
ice, by rents of land, or interest on invested capital, and 
by taxes for the support of the poor.* The whole Bata- Aspect of 
vian territory was only a little larger than Wales. "But 
all that narrow space was a busy and populous hive, in 
which new wealth was every day created, and in which 
vast masses of old wealth were hoarded. The aspect of 
Holland, the rich cultivation, the innumerable canals, the 
ever- whirling mills, the endless fleets of barges, the quick 
succession of great towns, the ports bristling with thou- 
sands of masts, the large and stately mansions, the trim 
villas, the richly-furnished apartments, the picture galler- 
ies, the summer-houses, the tulip beds, produced on En- 
glish travellers in that age an effect similar to the effect 
which the first sight of England now produces on a Nor- 
wegian or a Canadian."! 

After the sack of Antwerp, the prosperity of Amsterdam Extensive 
began rapidly to increase. Her merchants, finding them- 
selves prohibited from trading to Spain, boldly sought the 
ends of the earth, and, in spite of all the efforts of their en- 
emies, their expanding commerce soon covered every sea. 

" Each waxing moon supplied her watery store, 
To swell those tides which from the line did beat 
Their brimful vessels to the Belgian shore." 

Their exchange presently resounded with a confused hum 
of all the languages spoken by civilized man. The floor 
of the Burghers' Hall, in the magnificent stadthuys at 
Amsterdam, which was begun in 1648, was inlaid with 
marble, so as to represent maps of all the nations of the 
world — " a mute but eloquent expression of the all-em- 
bracing enterprise of the people." And thus the Dutch 

* De Witt, i., ch. 8 ; McCullagh, ii., 279. t Macaulay, i., 201. 



cominer.-p 



458 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

(H. XIII. soon rendered themselves the chief carriers of the world, 
\ ~ and their country the chief depository of its productions. 
■ Without mines, or vineyards, or forests, there was nowhere 
such an abundance of metals, wines, and timber as in 
Holland ; and when, in years of scarcity, France and En- 
gland needed supplies of corn, "they looked not to Poland 
or Livonia, where it grew, but to the cities of the Dutch, 
where they were always sure to find a ready and plentiful 
store."* This constant abundance among the Dutch grew 
out of their liberal commercial policy. " The freedom of 
traffic," said De Witt, " has ever been greater with them 

Free Trade, than among any of their neighbors."! " The low duties 
of these wise states," said Raleigh, " draw all traffic to 
them, and the great liberty allowed to strangers makes a 
continual mart. And although the duties be but small, 
yet the vast exports and imports do greatly increase their 
revenues, which vast commerce enables the common peo- 
ple not only to bear the burden of the excises and imposi- 
tions laid on them, but also to grow rich."t 

rniversai The liberal commercial policy of Holland was accom- 
panied by entire freedom in matters of faith, and by a 
generous statesmanship which offered a secure asylum to 
strangers of every race and creed. This universal senti- 
ment of toleration among the Dutch was neither a polit- 
ical expedient, nor the result of any state necessity. " It 
was the instinct, and habit, and traditional law of right 
in the heart of the nation, the observance of which they 
could boast, with honest pride, for ages."§ However much 
the clergy of Holland may have been inclined toward sect- 
arian exclusiveness, the magistrates and the people, who 
made the laws, were almost universally liberal. " The 
great care of this state has ever been to favor no particu- 
lar or curious inquisition into the faith or religious princi- 
ples of any peaceable man who came to live under the 
protection of their laws, and to suffer no violence or op- 
pression upon any man's conscience whose opinions broke 

* McCuUagh, ii., 205, 26fi. t De Witt, i., cap. ii. 

t Raleigh's Observations to King James. I) McCulIagh, ii., 169. 



FREEDOM OF THE DUTCH PRESS. 459 

not out in expressions or actions of ill consequence to the ch. xiii 
state."* Attracted by this magnanimous liberality, fugi- 7" 

tive Walloons from the Spanish Netherlands, Lutherans Foreigners 
from Grermany, Puritans from England, Huguenots from '*'"''^'^'®'^- 
France, Waldenses from Piedmont, and long-persecuted 
Jews from Portugal, found in Holland a cordial welcome 
and full employment. And the liberal-minded Hollanders 
received a prompt and abundant reward. New branches New Man- 
of manufactures were introduced and established, the un- establish- 
rivaled excellence of which soon commanded the markets 
of the world. Even English cloths, sent to Amsterdam to 
be dressed and dyed, were shipped thence to foreign coun- 
tries, and sold "by the name of Flemish Bayes," said Ra- 
leigh ; " so we lose the very name of our home-bred com- 
modities."! For ages, the linens and the paper of Hol- 
land maintained the highest reputation, and found a large 
consumption abroad. t The printing of books early became Publication 

1 r 1 • 1 • 1 1 of books. 

an important branch oi the national industry, and men of 
taste and learning constantly superintended the press. 
The names of the Elzeviers of Leyden are still cherished 
with the sincerest respect by all who have seen their ad- 
mirable editions, which, for accuracy and beauty of typog- 
raphy, are unsurpassed by the publications of our own day. 
As long as an author abstained from uttering positive li- 
bels, he might promulgate whatever opinions he saw fit ; 
and the natural consequence of the freedom of the Dutch 
press was the publication of a vast number of books, the 
exportation of which for a long time formed a lucrative 
branch of trade. The High Court of Holland was some- Liberty of 

■ r ■ I- re 1 the Dutch 

times called upon to interiere, m cases oi gross oiiense ; but press, 
the plans which they more than once suggested to the states, 
for restricting the liberty of the press, were invariably re- 
jected, s^ Thus it was that the people of the Netherlands 
became prosperous and great. 

* Har. Misc., ii., 600 ; ante, p. 102. t Observations to King James. 

t While e.xamining the documents relating to New York in the English archives at 
London, I observed that many of the official dispatches to and from our colonial govern- 
ors, from the time of Colonel NlcoUs down to the period of the Revolution, were written 
on paper bearing the Dutch water-mark. 

i) Wagenaar, Vad. Hist., xc, 218 ; Davles, ill., 402. 



460 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



1648. 

Illustrious 
men ofllol 
land. 



CH. XIII. While the Dutch, as a people, were distinguished by 
talents perhaps more solid than brilliant, some of the most 
illustrious men of modern times were natives of Holland. 
In politics, none are greater than Barneveldt and the De 
Witts ; in arms, none excel Maurice and the other princes 
of Orange ; in naval affairs, none surpass Heemskerk, and 
Heyn, and Tromp, and De Ruyter. Holland was equally 
remarkable for intellectual superiority. Her Universi- 
ties of Leyden, Utrecht, and Grroningen produced scholars 
equal to most, and superior to many. In the schools of 
divinity, few have obtained higher distinction than Agric- 
ola, Arminius, Cocceius, Episcopius, Gromarus, Junius, or 
Witsius. In classical accomplishments, few scholars have 
ever surpassed Grronovius, Heinsius, Scaliger, or Vossius. 
In philosophy and science, the world has assigned the 
highest place to Erasmus, Grrotius, Plancius, Huygens, 
Jansen, and Spinosa. In medicine and surgery, none have 
excelled Boerhaave, and Ruysch, and Tulp. Among her 
own sons, Holland has found worthy historians in Bor, 
Brandt, De Laet, Hooft, and Van Meteren. In lighter lit- 
erature, also, the Dutch were not deficient ; and, though 
the propensity of the people to rhyming perhaps corrupted 
the national taste, the illustrious names of Cats and Von- 
del are quite sufficient to rescue from contempt the poet- 
ical reputation of their Fatherland. 

The Netherlands, too, can boast of having produced 
some of the most eminent artists. There were born Back- 
huysen, Cuyp, Grerard Dow, Hobbima, Mieris, Paul Pot- 
ter, Rembrandt, Jan Steen, Van der Huyden, Vander- 
velde, Wouvermans, and many others of nearly equal ce- 
lebrity. The visitor at Grouda can not fail to render a trib- 
ute of admiration to the talents of the brothers Crabeth, 
who painted the magnificent glass windows in the cathe- 
dral, perhaps among the finest specimens of the art now 
existing. The engravers of H^olland have been among the 
first in the world ; and the elaborate pulpit in the New 
Church* at Amsterdam to this day attests the eminence 

* This building, though known as the " New Church," is more than four centuries old. 



CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DUTCH. 461 

of her carvers in wood. The invention of the highest of cn. xiii 
all the arts — that of printing — is confidently claimed for 
Lawrence John Coster, a native of Haerlem.* 

The Dutch were eminently a plain-spoken, industri- cuaracttr- 

'' ^ ^ isties of til,- 

ous, frugal, charitable, well-educated, and moral people. Dutdi. 
Straight-forward simplicity and boldness of speech were al- 
ways their peculiar characteristics. Their blunt frankness Frankness 
constantly drew upon them the satire of the rest of Eu- 
rope. In the meanness of his sycophancy to an ungrate- 
ful king, the bitterest couplet that Dryden could write 
about them was 

" Well may they boast themselves an ancient nation ; 
For they were bred ere manners were in fashion." 

Party spirit ran high in Holland, as it ever will run high Party 
in countries where the expression of opinion is unrestrain- 
ed by arbitrary laws and sectarian despotism. From the 
time of the famous factions of the " Hoeks" and the " Kab- 
beljaus,"! the country was never free from political con- 
tentions. But these disagreements, though sometimes 
pushed into popular excesses, so far from retarding, stead- 
ily accelerated the cause of civil liberty, by interesting 
the minds of the masses of the people. The intelligent 
Temple, travelling, incognito, to the Hague, in 1667, re- 
marked, that the chief pleasure he had, was " to observe 
the strange freedom that all men took, in boats, and inns, 
and all other common places, of talking openly whatever 
they thought upon all public affairs. "$ 

To proverbial industry, the Dutch united habits of thrift Ecoromy 
and economy. These habits, in connection with their ity. 
large commercial resources, enabled them to sustain with 

It was founded in 1408. The " Oude Kerk," or Cathedral of Saint Nicholas, was built 
before the year 1300. * Davies, ii., 665-669; McCuUagh, ii., 287-292. 

t These whimsical names are said to have originated, about the year 1346, in a dispute 
at a feast, whether the codfish (Kabbeljau) took the hook, or the hook took the codfish. 
Graver history, however, alleges that these household words among the Dutch early 
marked their independent spirit. The nobles who attempted oppression were compared 
to the codfish, which devours the smaller fry ; while the people were likened to the hook, 
because, though apparently insignificant, it can master the all-devouring cod. Whatever 
may have been their actual origin, these names continued, for nearly two centuries, to 
distinguish those rival parties, the feuds of which, while they temporarily distraoted Hol- 
land, gave the Dutch that habit of free thought and action which has always characterized 
the nation. t Temple's Works, i., 286. 



462 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XIII. ease the enormous public expenses, which in some years 

amounted to three times the vakie of the whole produce 
1 648 

■ of the land.* The direct taxes and excises, which con- 
stituted the chief re venues of Holland, were willingly paid, 
because there was no suspicion that they were misapplied. 
" No great riches," says Temple, " are seen to enter by 
public payments into private purses, either to raise fami- 
lies, or to feed the prodigal expenses of vain, extravagant, 
and luxurious men ; but all public moneys are applied to 
the safety, greatness, or honor of the state."! Among 
Hollanders, it was always a cardinal principle to live with- 
in one's income. " Every man spent less than he had 
coming in, be that what it would ; and he would be 
thought to have lived a year to no purpose who had not 
realized a sum to lay by at the end of it."$ 

Yet, with all their economy and thrift, the Dutch were 
neither mean nor sordid. Their houses were richly fur- 
nished with pictures, and fine linen, and carved w^ork, and 
plate ; and an overflowing hospitality always distinguish- 

iiospitaiity ed their kind-hearted and liberal inhabitants. Their be- 
ano benev- 
olence, nevolence was expansive ; among civilized nations the 

Dutch early obtained celebrity for their kindness to the 
poor. The wealth which their industry gained was lib- 
erally expended in acts of humanity and charity. The 
tlurifty habits of the working classes generally enabled 
them to support themselves in independence. But the 
sick, and aged, and poor, were always sure of finding com- 
fortable asylums provided for them by the large benevo- 
lence of their more oj)ulent countrymen. The orphan was 
protected and reared, and the soldiers and the sailors, who 
won the laurels of Holland, were never forgotten, 
liariy 0.S- Noitlicr thc Dcrils of war, nor the busy pursuit of gain. 
rneiu of nor the excitement of political strife, ever caused the Dutch 
schools, to neglect the duty of educating their otTspring to enjoy 
that freedom for which their fathers had fought. Schools 
were every where provided, at the public expense, with 
good schoolmasters, to instruct the children of all classes 

- IIol. Mer., 1685, p. 107. t Observations, 136. t Ibid., p. 138. 



MORAL QUALITIES OF THE DUTCH. 463 

in the usual branches of education ; and the consistories of ch. xiii. 
the churches took zealous care to have their youth thor- 
oughly taught the Catechism and the Articles of Religion.* 

The purity of morals and decorum of manners, for 
which the Dutch have always been conspicuous, may, 
perhaps, be most justly ascribed to the happy influence 
of their women. The empire which the sex obtained influence of 
was no greater than that wliich their beauty, good sense, women, 
virtue, and devotion well entitled them to hold.t They 
mingled in all the active affairs of life, and were always 
consulted with deferential respect. Their habits of busi- 
ness enabled them to manage, with skill and advantage, 
the interests which their husbands confidently intrusted 
to their care. They loved their homes and their firesides, 
but they loved their country more. Through all their toils 
and struggles, the calm fortitude of the men of Holland 
was nobly encouraged and sustained by the earnest and 
undaunted spirit of their mothers and wives. $ 

Of all the moral qualities which distinguished the Dutch, Honesty of 
and to which their prosperity as a nation is to be attrib- 
uted, perhaps the most remarkable was their honesty. In 
their darkest hour of trial, none doubted their national 
credit. The interest on their loans was punctually paid. 
Their word was always faithfully kept, and the spirit of 
commerce, " honoring the people of whom it had honor," 
won for them the confidence of the world. The very year 
the truce with Spain was signed, the Bank of Amsterdam 
was established on the basis of so high a credit as, by de- 
grees, to attract to its coffers a large portion of the wealth 
of Europe. The Dutch soon became the cashiers of the 
Old World ; and the nation, which had been trained to la- 
bor and to liberty in the same school of experience, gath- 
ered the substantial rewards of integrity. Their high- 
minded and pvrnctilious honesty, which " shamed out of 
countenance the poor prejudices of their age,"§ became a 
proverb abroad, as their commerce expanded over every 

* Davies, ii., 202 ; Decrees of Svnod of 1586, art. 17-19. The states of Friesland es- 
tablished the College of Franeker, in 1585, upon the free principle. 
1 Beaumarchais, Let. sur Hoi., 25. t Davies, i., 487 ; iii., 381. ? Verplanck. 



464 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. xiii. sea, and wealth flowed back upon them in a ceaseless 

tide. At home, their counsels, sruided by s^ood faith and 

1648 

■ mutual confidence, bound all ranks together by the stron- 
gest ties, and secured their well-deserved prosperity. 
I'irniness. With integrity, the Dutch possessed the no less striking 
characteristic of firmness. Nature early taught them that 
the very existence of their country depended on their sleep- 
less vigilance and ceaseless toil ; and from sire to son the 
hereditary lesson was constantly repeated. The dikes 
which kept the ocean off" their swampy soil were not more 
firm than the will of the men who built them, and of the 
posterity which kept them in repair. They calmly meas- 
ured their strength against their task, and what they calm- 
ly undertook they as resolutely accomplished. And they 
were as modest as they were undaunted. In prosperity 
and in adversity, in sunshine and in storm, they pursued 
their purposes with steadfast constancy ; and animated by 
a determination which no obstacles could discourage and 
no dangers dismay, " they acquired power in the struggle 
for existence, and wealth under the weight of taxation."*' 
Incorrupt!- Houcst and firm, the Dutch were universally patriotic 
ixni. and incorruptible. Their country was identified with 
themselves ; her glory, her honor, her greatness was their 
own. An ardent love of that country was one of their most 
distinctive traits. "The Fatherland" — that delightful 
word — always awakened the most dear and cherished 
associations, the most tender and sacred feelings. And 
thus the Dutch, loving their own land above all other lands, 
were universally incorruptible. During all the long war 
with Spain, not a solitary traitor was found to barter his 
country for gold ; and the most successful among the ad- 
mirals of Holland added enormous wealth to her treasury 
without soliciting the smallest portion for his own reward.! 
Such was the Batavian Republic, and such were the 
people who made their Fatherland prosperous, great, and 
respected. The descendants of such an ancestry laid the 
foundations of New York. 

* Gouverneur Morris. t Davies, ii., 637 ; ante, p. 184. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 465 



CHAPTER XIV. 
1647-1648. 

"Well might Peter Stuyvesant describe New Nether- ch. xiv. 



land as in a "low condition" on his arrival. Excepting ipj^^ 
the Long Island settlements, scarcely fifty bouweries could com- 
be counted ; and the whole province could not furnish, at "r stuy™e-' 
the utmost, more than three hundred men capable of bear- minis^tra- 
ing arms. The savages were still brooding over the loss 
of sixteen hundred of their people. Disorder and discon- 
tent prevailed among the commonalty ; the public revenue 
was in arrear, and smuggling had almost ruined legiti- 
mate trade ; conflicting claims of jurisdiction were to be 
settled with the colonial patroons ; and jealous neighbors 
all around threatened the actual dismemberment of the 
province. Protests had been of no avail ; and the deci- 
mated population, which had hardly been able to protect 
itself against the irritated savages, could offer but a feeble 
resistance to the progress of European encroachment.* 
Under such embarrassing circumstances, the last director 
general of New Netherland began his eventful government. 27 May. 

The arrival of Kieft's successor was joyfully hailed by 
the people as their deliverance from a terrible evil. But stuyve- 
the new director's supercilious bearing soon indicated the haughti- 
character of his future government. His first coming 
"was like a peacock's, with great state and pomp." Some 
of the principal inhabitants going to welcome him, were left 
to wait, "for several hours, bareheaded," while Stuyvesant 
himself remained covered, " as if he was the Czar of Mus- 
covy." When he took the direction from his predecessor, 
the whole community was called together to witness the 

* Hoi. Doc, xi., 213 ; Breeden Raedt, 19 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., i., 689 ; iv., 105. 

Gtg 



Ififi PIISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



1647. 

Occur- 
reiices at 
tiif> iiiaugu- 
ratioc. 



ch. XIV. ceremony. Kieft began by thanking the people for their 
fidelity to him, " which he much exaggerated, in hopes 
that the commonalty would unanimously have thanked 
him." But Kuyter and Melyn, both members of the board 
of " Eight Men," and several others, spoke out boldly that 
" they would not thank him, as they had no reason to do 
so." Stuyvesant "under the blue heavens loudly declared 
that every one should have justice done to him." The as- 
surance gladdened the commonalty ; nevertheless, their di- 
rector's haughty carriage " caused some to think that he 
would not be a father."*' 
organiza- Whatever Stuyvesant did, he did vigorously. His first 
council, care was to organize his council, which consisted of Van 
Dincklagen, the vice-director. Van Dyck, the fiscal, Com- 
missary Keyser, and Captain Bryan Newton, besides the 
experienced La Montague, who was retained as a coun- 
selor, and Van Tienhoven as provincial secretary. Paulus 
Leendertsen van der Grist was appointed "equipage mas- 
ter ;" and Baxter, who had served as English secretary 
28 June, siucc 1642, was continued in that post, as none of the com- 
pany's officers "could tolerably read or write the English 
language." 
31 May. Proclamations were immediately issued with a zeal and 

uiauo^ns^" rapidity which promised to work a "thorough reforma- 
tion." Sabbath-breaking, brawling, and drunlcenness were 
forbidden. Publicans were restrained from selling liquors, 
except to travellers, before two o'clock on Sundays, " when 
there is no preaching," and after nine o'clock in the even- 
I July. ing. To the savages no liquor was to be sold at any 
time. The revenue, which had been greatly defrauded by 
the smuggling of furs to New England and Virginia, for 
shipment thence to England, and by the introduction of 
foreign merchandise in vessels which ran past Fort Am- 
sterdam during the night, was protected by stringent reg- 
4 .July. ulations, which soon excited a violent opposition. All ves- 
laws. sels were required to anchor under the guns of the fort, 

* Vertoogh van N. N., in ii., N. Y. H. S. Coll., ii., 308 ; Brceden Racdt, 27, 28 ; Doc. 
Hist. N. Y., iv., 108, 109 ; ante, p. 433. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 4^7 

near the " hand-board," which was erected on the water- ch. xiv. 
side. Further to replenish the treasury, an excise duty~~~ 
was now, for the first time, levied on wines and liquors, -^^j^g ^^_' 
The people, who had looked for the abolition of Kieft's ob- *''^®- 
noxious beer-excise, murmured at the new imposition. It 
was "like the crowning of Rehoboam;" if their yoke was 
heavy under Kieft, it was still heavier under Stuyvesant. 
The export duties on peltries were increased and regula- 
ted. The outstanding tenths due from the impoverished 23 Juiy. 
farmers were called in ; but a year's grace for the pay- 
ment was allowed them, in consideration of their losses by 
the war. Still further to aid the revenue, two of the com- 
pany's yachts were ordered to cruise in the West Indies, 
and capture, if possible, some of the rich galleons return- 
ing to Spain. Th& Court of Justice was also organized by court of 
the appointment of Van Dincklagen as presiding judge ; 
but the director required that his opinion should be asked 
in all important cases, and reserved the right to preside in 
person whenever he should think fit. The municipal af- 
fairs of Manhattan were also attended to. At this time 
its aspect was unattractive ; fences were straggling ; the 
public ways crooked, and many of the houses encroached 
on the lines of the streets. Proprietors of vacant lots were, 25 juiy. 
therefore, directed to improve them within nine months ; regulations 
and Van Dincklagen, Van der Grist, and Van Tienhoven Imst^- 
were appointed the first " surveyors of buildings," to reg- 
ulate the erection of new houses " within or around the 
city of New Amsterdam."* 

Stuyvesant, who was a devout member of the Reform- 
ed Church of the Fatherland, and firmly attached to its 
doctrines and discipline, soon became a member of the fji'^rch m 

' Fort Am- 

consistory of the church at Fort Amsterdam. The build- ■'"^'■dam. 
ing was still unfinished ; and the director, as an elder and 
church-master, in association with Jan Jansen Dam and 
another colleague, undertook to complete the work in the 
course of the next winter. Bogardus, whose difficulties 

* Alb. Rec, vii., 3-61, 290-297 ; New Amsterdam Records, i., 1-7 ; Vertoogli, ut sup., 
295, 296, 304-308, O'Call., ii., 21-24; Dunlap, ii., App. xxiv., xxv. ; ante, p. 394; App. 
Note Q. 



468 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XIV. with Kieft had produced disaffection in the congregation, 
~7~ and had become the subject of remark in the Classis of 
22 July. Amsterdam, now resigned his charge, with a view of pro- 
ceeding to Holland to meet his ecclesiastical superiors. 
Bogardus Johanncs Backerus, formerly the clergyman at Curapoa, 
by Backe- and who had accompanied Stuy vesant to New Netherland, 
was installed as the successor of Bogardus, at a yearly 
salary of fourteen hundred guilders.* 
Temper of The inherent sentiment of popular freedom, which had 
and of tiiei'r exhibited its power during Kieft's unquiet government, 
moved the commonalty throughout Stuyvesant's more ar- 
bitrary administration. His military training made him 
imperious in his ideas of government. He looked upon 
himself as almost supreme in the far-off province. All at- 
tempts of the people to limit and restrain the abuse of his 
delegated authority he resisted with characteristic vigor 
and resolution. On the other hand, the colonists were con- 
stantly endeavoring to obtain for themselves the franchises 
and freedoms of their Fatherland. Affectionately loyal to 
the government of their native country, they felt that a 
participation in the liberties which their brethren enjoyed 
in Holland was their own birth-right in New Netherland. 
Kieft's om- The contest between the prerogative of the provincial 
duct'ar- government and the popular sentiment of the commonalty 
raigne ^^^^^ rcopencd soon after Stuyvesant was installed ; and 
Kieft's reckless administration w^as made the subject of a 
formal complaint to his successor. Kuyter and Melyn, 
who had openly refused to join in a vote of thanks to their 
late director, now petitioned that the members of his coun- 
cil should be examined on searching interrogatories, which 
embraced the whole provincial policy from the imposition 
of the Indian tribute in 1639. The evidence thus obtain- 
ed they proposed to use with effect in Holland, 
stuyvesant Stuyvcsaut instantly took the alarm. If the adminis- 
Kieft. ' tration of Kieft were now to be judged at the demand of 
the people, his own acts might have to pass the same or- 

* Corr. CI. ArnBt. ; Alb. Rec, vii., 55 ; Rev. Dr. De Witt, in Proc. N. V. H. S., 1844, 
60, 61, 74 ; IJreeden Raedt, ut sup. ; Moulton's N. Y. in 1673, 18 ; Vertoogh van N. N.. 
309 ; ante, p. 418. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 469 

deal. The precedent would be dangerous ; the preroga- ch. xiv. 
tive of the directorship must be sustained. He therefore 
"chose the side of Kieft;" and looked upon Kuyter and 
Melyn, not as members of the former board of Eight Men, 
but simply as " private persons." Convening a special 
council, Stuyvesant, without waiting for the advice of his 
associates, announced his authoritative opinion. The pe- h June, 
titioners had not shown that they were " solicited by the 
citizens at large" to propose the examination of the late 
director and his council, by whom they had been consid- 
ered " disturbers of the public peace and tranquillity." 
" If this point be conceded, will not these cunning fellows, 
in order to usurp over us a more unlimited power, claim 
and assume, in consequence, even greater authority against 
ourselves and our commission, should it happen that our 
administration may not square in every respect with their 
whims?" The officers of the provincial government should 
not be obliged to disclose the secret instructions of the 
West India Company on the demand of two private indi- 
viduals. In the opinion of the director, " it was treason 
to petition against one's magistrates, whether there was 
cause or not." Stuyvesant's decided tone swayed the complaints 
opinions of his compliant council, and the petition of the '^™ ^'^ 
two " malignant subjects" was rejected. 

It was only natural that the unsuccessful petitioners 
should pay the penalty of their temerity. Instead of Kieft 
and his council, Kuyter and Melyn were now ordered to 
be examined as to the origin of the Indian war ; and they 
were required to name its authors, and state whether their 
own demand for an investigation had been authorized by 
the home or provincial governments, or by the commonalty 
at large. If so, Kieft's instructions and dispatches might 
be communicated to them ; if not, the accused must be 
sent to Holland with the recalled director, whom they had 
inculpated, to make good their complaints before the States 
Greneral. 

This decision was a triumph for Kieft. Finding that 
his successor was already prepossessed against Kuyter and 



470 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XIV. Melyn, he determined to gratify his personal revenge, and 
accused them before Stuyvesant of being the authors of 
18 June. ^^^ memorial of the 28th of October, 1644, which the Eight 
IXnit Men had addressed to the College of the XIX., a copy of 
Kion. ''^ which the directors had sent to him, "that he might see 
his impeachment, and purge himself; but without any 
authority to molest the signers of the letter on that ac- 
count." That letter, he now charged, was false and ca- 
lumnious, and prepared and dispatched clandestinely ; and 
he alleged that the majority of its signers had been ca- 
joled into statements tending to bring their magistrates 
into contempt. The authors should be compelled to pro- 
duce copies of all their letters to the West India Company, 
and should be banished " as pestilent and seditious per- 
sons." Kieft's application was granted, and Kuyter and 
Melyn were ordered to answer in forty-eight hours. 
22 June. In their defense, the accused produced evidence to sus- 

Kuyter and tain their charges against Kieft, toward whom they de- 
clared they had no vindictive feelings. In the heat of war 
they had indeed complained to the West India Company, 
" but not to strangers, nor to the enemies of the United 
Provinces." Between forty and fifty bouweries had been 
destroyed during the hostilities with the Indians, and it 
was only right that a searching inquiry should now be 
made. They had used no deception toward any of the 
Eight Men, or any of the commonalty. They were will- 
ing to go to Holland, not as "pestilent and seditious" per- 
sons, but as good patriots, who by the war had lost all that 
they had possessed in New Netherland. The four surviv- 
ors of the Eight Men, who had jointly signed the letters, 
should nevertheless accompany them, to verify their com- 
plaints before the States General. 
■♦July. In Stuyvesant's iudsfment, the frank answers of the ac- 

Formal in- ^ ■• ■, ■ rr i tt i -it x^ 

dictment of cuscd only agsfravatcd their oiiense ; and Fiscal Van Dyck 

theao- 11 • 1 Ti 1 1 

eased. was ordered to prosecute them vigorously. But the indict- 
ment which he prepared was thought so imperfect, that the 
director and council determined to act as both prosecutors 

n July, and judges. Melyn was accordingly charged with rebell- 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 47 1 

ious conduct ; with having endeavored to entice the com- ch. xiv. 
pany's servants away from their employment ; and with ~7~ 
having deprived the Indians, before the war, of a part of 
their lands. Kuyter was accused of counseling treachery 
toward the savages ; of urging the mortgage of Manhat- 
tan to the English ; and of having threatened Kieft with 
personal violence, when he should "take off the coat with 
which he had been bedecked by the Lords his Masters." 
Both Melyn and Kuyter were charged with having fraud- 
ulently procured the signatures of the Eight Men to the 
" calumnious and scandalous" letter of the twenty-eighth 
of October, 1644, which it was also alleged the common- 
alty had not authorized theiTi to write. 

These charges were fully answered by the accused ; and le juiy. 
Kuyter for himself maintained that, as a member of the Kuyterand 
board of Eight Men, he had, in good faith, advised the' ''^"" 
pledging of Manhattan to the English, as a measure of 
necessity. In a few days the prejudged case was decided, 
and sentence pronounced. Stuyvesant wished Melyn to 
be punished with death, and the confiscation of his prop- 
erty ; and Kuyter to be subjected to an "arbitrary correc- 
tion," and pay a fine of three hundred guilders. But theasjuiy. 
majority of the council modified the director's severe opin- 
ion ; and Melyn was sentenced to seven years' banish- Their con- 
ment, to pay a fine of three hundred guilders, and "to for- sentence* 
feit all benefits derived from the company ;" while Kuyter 
was sentenced to three years' banishment, and to pay a 
fine of one hundred and fifty guilders. One third of both 
fines was to be given to the poor, one third to the Church, 
and one third to the fiscal. It was alleged that Melyn 
was accused more bitterly, and punished more severely 
than Kuyter, " because Kieft had formerly flattered him- 
self that he should have a part with him in Staten Island, 
and finding himself deceived, he had been obliged to make 
other conditions with other persons."* 

The right of appeal to the Fatherland, which Kieft had 

• Alb. Rec, vii., 9-17, 34-67 ; Hoi. Doc, iii., 184-205 ; v., 31 ; Breeden Raedt, 28, 29; 
O'Call., ii., 24-34 ; Doc. Hist. N. V., iv., 109, 110 ; Vertoogh, 308 ; anU, p. 397^00, 416. 



472 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

crt. XIV. denied to Doughty and to Van Hardenburg, was now again 
openly denied by Stuyvesant. " If I were persuaded," said 
Right of ' *he director, addressing Melyn, "that you would divulge 
medfo^^' our sentence, or bring it before their High Mightinesses, I 
Melyn. would havc you hanged at once on the highest tree in New 
Netherland." Not long afterward, upon leaving the Par- 
sonage house, where he had been attending a meeting of 
\':n\ Har- the cousistory, stuyvesant interrupting Van Hardenburg, 
who was relating Kieft's proceedings in his case, openly 
declared, "If any one, during my administration, shall ap- 
peal, I will make him a foot shorter, and send the pieces 
Dougiity. to Holland, and let him appeal in that way." Doughty, 
too, was again made to feel the abuse of provincial au- 
thority. His petition to be allowed to return to Europe 
was at first denied, and he was "threatened with this and 
that." He was finally permitted to depart, " provided he 
gave a promise under his hand that he would not, in any 
place to which he might come, speak or complain of what 
had befallen him, here in New Netherland, from Directors 
Kieft or Stuyvesant."* 
16 August. Elated with his full measure of personal revenge, Kieft 
barks for embarked for Holland a few weeks afterward in the ship 

Holland. . . .,,. . „, • i a 

rrmcess, carrymg with him specimens oi the minerals of 
New Netherland, and " a fortune," which his enemies es- 
timated at four hundred thousand guilders. Domine Bo- 
gardus, and Van der Huygens, the late fiscal, were his 
fellow-passengers in the richly-laden ship, on board which 
Kuyter and Melyn were also brought " like criminals." 
But the " man of blood" never revisited the Fatherland. 
Within four years, Do Vries's parting malediction was ter- 
ribly fulfilled. The Princess, navigated by mistake into 
27 Sept. the Bristol Channel, struck upon a rock, and was wrecked 
on the rugged coast of Wales. Seeing death at hand, 
Kieft's conscience smote him, and turning toward Kuyter 
and Melyn, he said, " Friends, I have been unjust toward 
you — can you forgive me ?" Toward morning, the ship 
went to pieces. Kieft, and " eighty other persons," includ- 

* Vertoogh, In il., N. Y. H. S. Coll., ii., 309, 310 ; Breeden Raedt, 30 ; ante, p. 417. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 473 

ing Bogardus, Van der Huygens, and a son of Melyn, were ch. xiv. 
drowned. Of all on toard, only twenty were saved. Kuy- 
ter, clinging to a part of the wreck on which stood a can- ^j^^gg ,0^,,' 
non, was thrown on shore " to the great astonishment of 
the English, who crowded the strand by thousands, and 
who set up the piece of ordnance as a lasting memorial." 
Melyn, floating on his back, was driven on a sand-bank. Escape of 
from which he reached the main land in safety. As both Meiyn. 
Kuy ter and Melyn "were more concerned for their papers 
than for any thing else," they caused them to be dragged 
for ; and on the third day, Kuyter succeeded in recover- 
ing a small box of them, which he carried to Holland. 
Kieft's retributive fate produced no sympathy in the prov- 
ince he had misgoverned ; and when intelligence of the 
sad calamity reached New England, it was considered to 
be " an observable hand of Grod against the Dutch at New 
Netherland," and a special mark of the Lord's " favor to 
his poor people here, and displeasure toward such as have 
opposed and injured them."* 

The grand principle of " taxation only by consent," 
which the Fatherland had maintained since 1477, was 
now to be recognized, to a limited extent, by the provin- 
cial government of New Netherland. According to his in- 
structions, the director was bound to " use dispatch in the 
repairs of Fort Amsterdam ;" and as the company's rev- 
enue was embarrassed, the colonists themselves were to be 
" induced to aid in the work." Trouble, too, was appre- 
hended with the neighboring savage tribes, whose prom- 
ised presents remained in arrear. But the provincial treas- 
ury was "actually unprovided with money or goods," and Popular 
the people were unwilling to be taxed without their own uo^irde" * 
consent. In this exigency, Stuyvesant, distrusting " the 26 August. 
wavering multitude, ready to censure him if war should 
break out,"t demanded the advice of his council. 

Necessity produced concession, and prerogative yielded 
to popular rights. The council recommended that the 

* Alb. Rec, iv., 1, 4, 11 ; Breeden Raedt, 30, 31 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iv., Ill, 112; Van 
der Donck's N. N., p. 30, and in ii., N. Y. H. S. Coll., i., 162 ; Winthrop, ii., 316 ; De 
Vries, 183 ; ante, p. 266, 371. t Alb. Rec, vii., 73 ; ante, p. 192, 437. 



474 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XIV. principle of representation should be conceded to the peo- 
~~ pie. Stuyvesant assented ; and an election was ordered 
Concession *° ^^ held, at which the inhabitants of Manhattan, Breuck- 
san^'"^^*^ elen, Amersfoort, and Pavonia chose eighteen " of the most 
notable, reasonable, honest, and respectable" persons among 
themselves ; from whom, "as is customary in the Father- 
land," the director and council were to select Nine Men, 
to advise and assist, when called upon, in promoting the 
welfare of the province at large. 

In a few days, the powers and duties of the Nine Men 
were defined in a proclamation by the council. Stuyve- 
sant was reluctant to yield at all to the people ; the con- 
cessions to which he finally assented were jealously lim- 
ited and guarded. Yet the cause of popular rights gained 
largely. Under Kieft, the Twelve Men, and afterward the 
Eight Men, had possessed scarcely any influence, and had 
been treated with scarcely any respect. Under Stuyve- 
sant, the Nine Men were to form an important element in 
the provincial administration. The proclamation, which 
•25 Sept. may, perhaps, be regarded as in some sort a charter of 
popular rights, while it declared that nothing was more 
desirable than that New Netherland, " and principally 
New Amsterdam, our capital and residence, might con- 
tinue and increase in good order, justice, police, popula- 
tion, prosperity, and mutual harmony, and be provided 
with strong fortifications, a church, a school, trading-place, 
harbor, and similar highly necessary public edifices and 
improvements," at the same time avowed the desire of the 
council to obtain the voluntary assistance of the whole 
commonalty, " as nothing is better adapted to promote 
their own welfare and comfort, and as such is required in 
every well-regulated government." As it was difficult "to 
cover so many heads with a single cap, or to reduce so 
many opinions into one," it had therefore been proposed to 
The Nine the peoj)le to clcct eighteen persons, nine of whom should 
be selected, to confer with the director and council " as 
their tribunes, on all means to promote the welfare of the 
commonalty, as well as that of the country." The Nine 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 477 

fortifications should be paid out of the company's revenue ch. xi\ . 
from these sources.* 

While the director was thus engaged, his attention was ' ' 

called to a new effort to dismember the company's Amer- 
ican territory. Lord Stirling dying the year after the un- 
successful attempt of Farrett, his agent, to take possession 
of the western portion of Long Island, his widow determ- 
ined to maintain her title, and accordingly gave a power 
of attorney to Andrew Forrester, a Scotchman, with which 
she sent him to America. On his arrival at Vlissingen, September. 
Forrester boldly announced himself to the English settlers 
there and at Heemstede as Grovernor of Long Island, un- 
der the Dowager Countess of Stirling. The Schout of 
Vlissingen sent intelligence of these proceedings to Stuy- 
vesant ; and, the day after, Forrester himself visited Man- 
hattan. He had come, he said, to see the Dutch director's 
commission ; if that were better than his, he would give 
way ; if not, Stuvvesant must yield to him. The direct- Arrest of 

. , tX , -^ ■ i„ • Lady Stir- 

or, surprised at I<orresters "very consequential airs, or-iing's 
dered him to be arrested and examined before the council, 2? sept. 
where he stated that he was a native of Dundee, and pro- 28 Sept. 
duced a parchment with a mutilated seal, and Lady Stir- 
ling's power of attorney. But Stuyvesant promptly reject- 
ed the insufficient claims of " this pretended governor." 
Copies of his papers were taken, and the agent himself was Forrester 

111-1-1 1 1 TT 11 1 sentloHol- 

sent on board the talconer, to be conveyed to Holland, land, 
where he might defend himself if he could. But the ship 
put into an English port, and Forrester escaping, " never 
troubled the captain afterward." 

By the same vessel was sent Picquet, a Frenchman, who case or 
had been sentenced to banishment from New Netheiiand, 4 October. 
and eighteen years' confinement in the "rasp-house" at 
Amsterdam, for threatening to shoot the director and fis- 
cal. The convict escaped ashore in England ; but the 1648. 
Amsterdam Chamber hastened to admonish Stuyvesant ' ^" ' 
that he had exceeded his authority in sentencing a pris- 
oner to punishment in Holland. The magistrates of the 

* Alb. Rec, vii., 106-116 ; Winthrop, ii., 310 ; O'Call., ii., 41, 42 ; a7ite, p. 196. 



478 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XIV. Fatherland would hardly "deem themselves justifiable" in 
~~ executing a provincial sentence. " We would advise you," 
added the directors, "to punish, after due inquiry, all de- 
linquents in the country in which they are condemned."* 
corrc- Soon after his inauguration, Stuyvesant addressed court- 

epondence . r i i i • i • 

with New eous letters to the governors oi the neighbormg colonies, 
announcing his arrival, and expressing his feelings of am- 
ysjune. ity. In writing to Winthrop, he distinctly asserted "the 
indubiate right" of the Dutch to all the territory between 
the Connecticut and the Delaware ; and suggested an in- 
terview for the purpose of arranging all differences. This 
letter Winthrop immediately communicated to the com- 
missioners then sitting at Boston. Some of the members 
advised that Stuyvesant's proposition should be accepted, 
and a "visit at his own home," or a meeting at any of the 
New England towns, be tendered. But the Connecticut 
commissioners "thought otherwise, supposing it would be 
more to their advantage to stand upon terms of distance." 
17 August. Winthrop, therefore, merely replied that a meeting would 
be given "in proper time and place." The commission- 
ers on their part also joined in a letter, remonstrating 
against the " dangerous liberty" the Dutch traders were 
in the habit of taking, in selling guns and ammunition not 
only at Fort Orange, but along the coasts of Long Island 
Sound ; complaining of the high recognitions imposed in 
New Netherland upon imports and exports, and request- 
ing to be informed of their precise nature, so that the New 
England merchants "might steer a course accordingly. "t 
Customs' The colonial duties which the West India Company ex- 
New Neth- acted were injuriousl}'^ high, and in Stuyvesant himself 
they had a faithful agent in executing their system of ex- 
clusion and selfishness. An opportunity soon occurred to 
17 Sept. test the zeal of the new director. Secretary Van Tienho- 
iiisRaiiy ven, accidentally visiting New Haven, found lying at an- 
New Ha- ohor an Amsterdam ship, the Saint Beninio, which had 
been trading there for a month without the license of the 

* Alb. Rec, iv., 2-5; vii., 85-88, 95; Vertoogh, in ii., N. Y. H. S. Coll., ii., 275, 322; 
O'Call., ii., 46, 47; ante, p. 298, 299. 
t MS. Letters, Alb., i., 1-4 ; Winthrop, ii., 314 ; Hazard, Ii., 97, 98. 



ven. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 479 

West India Company. Meeting the Secretary of New ch. xiv. 
Netherland, "Westerhouse and Goedenhuysen, two of the 
owners of the cargo, applied for permission to trade at Man- " 

hattan, upon the payment of the usual duties. Van Tien- 
hoven, on his return, reported the circumstances to Stuy- 
vesant, ajid the desired permit was sent to New Haven. 
A few days afterward, Goedenhuysen, arriving at Man- 
hattan, informed Stuyvesant that the ship was about to 
sail from New Haven directly to Virginia ; but he neither 
produced his manifest, nor offered to pay any duties. The 
case, which from the first had been an infringement of 
the charter of the West India Company, now assumed the 
aspect of an open violation of the colonial revenue laws ; 
and Stuyvesant determined to seize the ship as she lay at 
anchor in New Haven harbor, which he considered to be 
within the jurisdiction of New Netherland. A short time 
before he had sold one of the company's vessels to some 
merchants of New Haven, and agreed to deliver it to them 
at that place. On board this vessel he embarked a com- seized by 
pany of soldiers, with instructions to capture the Saint sanraiid 
Beninio. The stratagem was successful. The smuggler Manhattan. 
was seized in New Haven harbor, "on the Lord's day," n October. 
and with a fair wind was soon brought to Manhattan, and 
confiscated.* 

This bold movement, which was executed so adroitly Excite- 
that the New Haven people had no time to interfere, nat- New Ha- 
urally produced a great excitement there. Stuyvesant^*"' 
had accompanied his proceeding with a letter to the New 
Haven authorities, in which he claimed all the regions 
from Cape Hinlopen to Cape Cod as a part of the territory 
of New Netherland, and asserted his right to levy duties 
upon all Dutch vessels trading at New Haven. Eaton 
immediately protested against the Dutch director as a dis- 18 October 
turber of the peace, by " making unjust claims to our 
lands and plantations, to our havens and rivers, and by 
taking a ship out of our harbor without our license." An- 
other cause of embarrassment had meanwhile occurred, 

• Alb. Rce., iii., 315 ; vii., 70-79, 95-102 ; Winlhrop, ii., 314 ; Hazard, ii., 101-103. 



480 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XIV. Three of the West India Company's servants had fled from 
Manhattan to New Haven, where, " being pursued," they 

Retaliatory Were apprehended and imprisoned. The provision in the 

measures, ^j-^idgg q[ Union between the New England colonies of 
1643, for the mutual delivery of fugitives from justice or 
servitude, had been virtually extended to New Nether- 
land,* and Eaton had agreed to surrender the prisoners. 
But as Stuyvesant now so boldly asserted a claim of ju- 
risdiction over New Haven, the delivery of the fugitives 
might be interpreted " as done in a way of subordination," 
and it was therefore " not thought fit to send them." This 

Advice of decision was communicated to the Massachusetts govern- 

sett^s*.**^ " ment, and their advice requested. The (J-eneral Court 
wrote at once to the New Haven authorities, that they 
" might deliver the fugitives without prejudice to their 
right or reputation." Eaton, however, rejecting the ad- 
vice of Massachusetts, detained the runaways, and took 

15 Nov. them into the public service. The Commissary of Fort 
Amsterdam arrived soon afterward at New Haven, with a 
letter from Stuyvesant, justifying his seizure of the ship, 
and entreating that the fugitives might be delivered to 

25 Nov. him. But Eaton declined, and sent back a sharp reply. 

terto stuy- " You havc imposcd an excessive high custom for all snoods 

vesant. , ,. ^ . . ,. . ■ ■, • r ■ ■ 

sold withm your jurisdiction, v\^ith seizures for omissions 
or misentries ; our vessels must anchor under your erect- 
ed hand, a place very inconvenient ; and, as if you meant 
to shut'up the passage by the Manhattans, or by insuffer- 
able burthens to weary the English out of trade, you be- 
gin to take recognitions upon goods traded elsewhere, and 
in their return passing only by the Manhattans." The 
post on the Paugussett had been tlu-eatened by the Dutch, 
and slanders against the English had been circulated 
among the savages. "I doubt not but we may retaliate," 
added Eaton, who, referring to the "sending Captain For- 
rester to Holland," suggested, in closing his letter, that 
the English colonies might hereafter have occasion "to 
write after the same copy." 

* IIol. Doc., v., 360 ; ii., N. Y. H. S. Coll., ii., 335. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 481 

Indignant at Eaton's "unjust charges," Stuyvesant de- ch. xiv. 

clined replying to his lecturing letter, but sent a full vin- ~ 

• 1647 

dication of his own conduct and administration to G-ood- jg p^^ 

year, the deputy governor of New Haven. Eaton's letter ^^"f,^^;,^. 
was " but as an aggravating of former passages to the worst '^"^'"'°"" 
sense," said the irritated director; "ripping up, as he con- 
ceives, all my faults, as if I were a school-boy, and not one 
of like degree with himself." With regard to the recog- 
nitions exacted at Manhattan, "every state hath power to 
make what laws and impose what customs in its own pre- 
cincts it shall think convenient, without being regulated 
or prescribed by others ; yet, notwithstanding we have 
been so favorable to your countrymen trading here that 
they pay eight per cent, less than our own." As Eaton 
was " so full of his retaliation, he must, according to his 
own words and practice, give us leave to give liberty to 
any that shall elope from your jurisdiction to remain un- 
der our protection until our fugitives are delivered."* 

The threatened measure was promptly executed. A 5 Dec. 
proclamation was issued, reciting the provocations which sant-rr©- 
the director had received from Eaton, and declaring that proceecu 
" if any person, noble or ignoble, freeman or slave, debtor '"^^' 
or creditor, yea, to the lowest prisoner included, run away 
from the colony of New Haven, or seek refuge in our lim- 
its, he shall remain free, under our protection, on taking 
the oath of allegiance. "t 

This unwise step placed Stuyvesant in a false position, 
both at home and abroad. The New Netherland colonists 
objected to it as tending to convert the province into a ref- 
uge for vagabonds from the neighboring English settle- 
ments, who would not be a desirable addition to their pop- 
ulation. This view, however, did not impress the director 
as strongly as the apprehension that his proclamation 
might " embitter" the other English colonies against the 
Dutch. He therefore wrote to the governors of Massachu- 
setts and Virginia, " blaming the practice in general, but 
excusing it in this particular case" as a measure of ncces- 

♦ Stuyvesant Letters, Alb., i., 4-9. t Alb. Rec, iv., 18 ; vii., Ill, 112. 

Hh 



\S2 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XIV. sity, and which had reference to New Haven alone. The 
following spring, finding that his unwise policy produced 

March. ^^ good result, "he wrote privately to the fugitives," offer- 
ing them pardon and satisfaction if they would return to 
New Amsterdam. Stuyvesant's offer, backed by letters 
from Domine Backerus, was gladly embraced, and the run- 
aways "made an escape and returned home." Eaton be- 
ing thus signally foiled, the obnoxious proclamation was 
revoked.* 

1647. Almost as soon as Stuyvesant landed at Manhattan, he 
was informed of the injurious behavior of Printz, and a 

South Riv- courier was promptly dispatched to the South River with 
17 August, a protest against the Swedish governor. Soon afterward, 
28 Sept. the director and council "having considered the abilities 
appointed of Audrics Huddc," confirmed him in office as commissary 
^mmissa- ^^ ^^^^ Nassau. In the beginning of the next year, a 

1648. Swedish bark, going up the river, passed the Dutch post 
Insults of without stopping or displaying her colors, was fired at, 
Swedes, and, on returning, her master was required to explain his 

conduct. But the schipper only boasted that he acted so 
to insult the Dutch commander, and would " certainly do 
4 April, so in future." Some of the Passayunk sachems now came 
to Fort Nassau with intelligence that the Swedes had col- 
lected a great quantity of logs for a new fort on the Schuyl- 
kill, where they had already constructed some buildings. 
By this means they hoped to cut off the Dutch from all 
access to " the large woods," and secure to themselves a 
trade with the Minquas, which would yield some thirty or 
Thesav- forty thousaud beaver skins annually. " Why do you not 
"hroutT'ii^ build on the Schuylkill yourselves ?" demanded the sa- 
ihe'schuyi- chcms ; and Hudde, feeling that without the trade with 
the inland Minquas, the possession of the South River 
" would deserve very little consideration," determined to 
follow the suggestion of the friendly savages. 

Preparations were immediately made to build, and 
27 April. Hudde went to the Schuylkill " with the most necessary 

♦ Winthrop, ii., 315 ; IIol. Doc, v., 18, 43 ; O'Call., ii., 48-57 ; Vertoogh, in ii., N. Y. 
H. S. CoU., ii., 312, 335. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 483 

timber." The sachems themselves warned the intruding ch. xiv. 
Swedes to depart, and told them that they had already ~~ 

ceded the spot to the Dutch, who, moreover, " should baild 
there." Two of the principal chiefs then "planted there, 
with their own hands, the colors of the Prince of Orange,'* 
and asked Hudde to fire a gun three times " as a mark 
that he had taken possession." This was done ; and the 
first house in the new Dutch Fort " Beversrede" was raised fg/sredo. 
in the presence of the sachems.* 

Toward evening, Huygens, the Swedish commissary, interfer- 
arrived at Fort Beversrede, with seven or eight men, and swedes, 
demanded by whose authority Hudde was raising the 
building. " By order of my masters, and with the previ- 
ous consent of the savages," replied the Dutch commissary. 
The sachems now interposed. " We shall grant this land. Reproved 

t)V the B3V- 

to the Dutch, who will settle here ; but by whose orders ages. 
do the Swedes erect buildings here ?" said they to Huy- 
gens. " Is it. not enough that the Swedes are already in 
possession of Matinnekonk, the Schuylkill, Kinsessing, Ka- 
kanken, Upland, and other places, all of which they have 
stolen from us ? Abovit ten or eleven years ago, Minuit 
had no more than six small tracts of land upon Paghagh- 
king, which he bought to plant there some tobacco, of 
which we were to enjoy half the produce. You would be 
greatly surprised if we were to come to you and purchase 
land, and then take the land adjoining it, as you have 
done on the river here, and yet continue to do. You would 
even prescribe laws to us, who are the original and natu- 
ral proprietors of the land, as if we might not do with our 
own what we wish. The Swedes have only lately arrived 
on the river, yet they have already taken so much land 
from us, which they have actually settled ; while the Dutch 
have never taken from us any land, although they have 
dwelt here and conversed with us more than thirty years." 
With this admonition from the savages, Huygens and 
his party retired, and Hudde continued his " commenced 

* Alb. Rec, iii., 258 ; vii., 80 ; xvii., 268, 321 ; Hudde's Report, 436-430 ; O'Call., ii., 80; 
Haianl, Ann. Penn., 94-99, 115 ; ante, 232, 426. 



484 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XIV. work." While he was thus engai^ed, Mounce Kling, the 
Swedish lieutenant of the fort on the Schuylkill, arrived 
May " with twenty-four men, fully armed with charged mus- 

kets, and bearing maces, marching in ranks." To his de- 
mand whether the Dutch intended to proceed with their 
fort, Hudde promptly replied, "What is commenced must 
Damages be finished." Upon this, the Swedish soldiers were or- 
the dered to cut down every tree near the house. The order 

was soon executed ; and even the fruit trees which Hudde 
had planted were destroyed.* 
16 May. Campanius, who had accompanied Printz to New Swe- 

return^to^ den as chaplain six years before, now returned home, 
we en. jj^^ dcsire to improve the condition of the savages induced 
him to study their language ; and he has the honor of hav- 
ing been the first missionary among the Indians of Dela- 
ware and Pennsylvania. After his return to Sweden, he 
completed the translation, which he had begun at Tinni- 
cum, of Luther's Catechism into the Lenni-Lenape tongue, 
in which, accommodating the Lord's Prayer to the circum- 
stances of the savages, he interpreted the petition for 
"daily bread" into a supplication for "a plentiful supply 
of venison and corn."t 
piowden About the same time, Sir Edmund Plowden, the titular 
Manhattan, earl palatine of New Albion, whose pretensions had been 
^^' derided by Kieft in 1643, paid a second visit to Manhat- 
tan. He had now been " about seven years" in Virginia, 
where he lost all the property he had brought over. Plow- 
den's absurd claim seems to have been treated as con- 
temptuously by Stuyvesant as it had been by Kieft ; and 
14 June, the bankrupt earl palatine went to Boston, on his way "to 
England for supply, intending to return and plant Dela- 
ware, if he could get sufficient strength to dispossess the 

* Hudde's ncport, 439, 440; S. Hazard, Ann. Penn., 100, 101. 

t Campanius, Preface, 72; Records of Swedes' Ctiurcli ; S. Hazard, Ann. Penn., 101, 
102. The translated Catechism, a copy of which is in the library of the Am Phil. Soci- 
ety, was printed in Delaware and Swedish at Stockholm, in 1G96. Campanius died on 
the 17th of September, 1683. In 1702, his grandson, who had never been in America, 
published the "Description of New Sweden," now generally quoted as "Campanius." 
A translation of this work, by Mr. Du Ponceau, of Philadelphia, was issued by the Penn- 
Bylvania Historical Society in 1834. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 485 

Swedes." But his purpose was never executed ; though, ch. xiv. 
upon reachmg London, he seems to have published a ro- ~~ 

mantic pamphlet — " Description of the Province of NeWpjg^j^jg.* 
Albion" — under the fabulous name of "Beauchamp Plan- ^(f,'f„^''^ 
tagenet."* 

In the mean time, the "West India Company had ex- 4 April, 
pressed their dissatisfaction that the limits between the 
Swedes, the English, and the Dutch were still unsettled. 
Stuyvesant accordingly dispatched Van Dincklagen andvanDincv 
La Montague to the South River, with instructions to prft- La Mon- 
cure a formal confirmation of the lands which had been to the south 
previously purchased of the savages. Three days after 7 June. 
their arrival at Fort Nassau, the commissioners proceeded 
to Fort Beversrede, and invited to a conference the native 
chiefs and "rulers over the territories and lands lying on 
and around the Schuylkill, called Armenveruis." Their 10. Tune, 
former sale to Arendt Corssen, of "the Schuylkill and ad- the schuyi- 

• • • 1111 ■ 11 i-l 1C11 '^'" '^°"- 

jouimg lands," was now n-revocably conrirmed ; and of all firmed, 
this territory the Dutch officers "took a public and lawful 
possession."! 

The commissioners then sailed to Tinnicum " with a be- interview 
coming suite," and solemnly protested against the injuri- Printz, 
ous acts of the Swedish governor. Nevertheless, Printz 
continued his vexatious conduct. Hans Jacobsen, attempt- 2 .Tuiy. 
ing to establish himself on the Schuylkill, was stopped^ and aimoy- 
threatened "that if he came there again and dared to the 
build, he should carry off with him a good drubbing." Ae juiy. ' 
few days afterward, Thomas Broen was treated in a sim- 
ilar manner at " New Holm." 

The next autumn Hudde visited Manhattan, at Stuy ve- s sepr. 
sant s summons, and made a report on the situation ot ar- port. 
fairs on the South River, with suggestions for their im- 
provement. Not long afterward, the director received in- 25 Sept. 
telligence of new provocations of the Swedes. Printz had 

« Winthrop, ii., 32.5 ; ii., N. Y. 11. S. Coll., ii., 279, .S23-326; a7?/«, p. 381, 382 ; Appendix, 
note E. Plantagenet's " Description" has been reprinted by Mr. Force, in his Collection 
of Tracts, vol. ii. 

t Alb. Rec, iv., 5 ; Iludde's Report, 440 ; Hoi. Doc, viii., 55 ; O'Call., ii., 81 ; Hazard, 
Ann. Penn., 102 ; ante, p. 232. 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XIV. built a large house, thirty feet long and twenty wide, in 
~~ front of Fort Beversrede, and within twelve feet of its 

16 Sept. g^t®, so that it could now he scarcely seen from the river. 
The inland savages, too, were dissatisfied that the river 
was not " always crowded" with Dutch cargoes ; for the 
Swedes had hut few. The commissariat of the company 
was "in want of every necessary article," and there were 
now only six able-bodied men on the South River to gar- 
rison the two Dutch forts.* 

Settlement It was therefore determined to commence the coloniza- 

commenced • r r, i i i ri- 

al Passa- tion 01 rassayunk ; and patents were granted to Simon 

Root and other freemen, to settle and build on the Schuyl- 
kill, at "the Mast-maker's Point." With these patentees, 

18 October. Huddc returned to Fort Nassau. Preparations were im- 
mediately made for building in the neighborhood of Fort 
Beversrede ; and the palisades around that post which the 

4 Nov. Swedes had torn down were replaced. The work had 
scarcely been repaired, before it was destroyed a second 

in:errupted time bv the Swedes. The same day, the Swedish lieu- 

by the . 

Swedes, tenant, Swen Schute, going to Mast-maker's Point, where 
Root was beginning to raise a house, forbade him to pro- 
ceed. At the intercession of Adriaen van Tienhoven, the 
clerk of the court on the South River, and Alexander Boy- 
er, the deputy commissary, Schute " relented" until they 
could send to Fort Nassau and obtain Hudde's further or- 

5 Nov. ders. These were sent the same night; and at sunrise 
the next morning Schute warned the Dutch officers that 
he had also received " positive orders" from Printz to de- 
stroy what they had built. Ordering his men to draw 
their swords, he marched to Mast-maker's Point, followed 
by the Dutch. In spite of all protests, and the exhibition 
of Stuyvesant's instructions, the Swedes presently destroy- 
ed Root's building, "using their swords in lieu of axes." 

7 Nov. Hudde, not having "any other arms than paper," again 

the Dutch, protested against this " destruction of mutual harmony and 
friendship." Van Tienhoven also wrote to Stuyvesant, de- 

* Alb. Rec, v., "I ; xvii., 268 ; IIol. Doc, viii., 32-35 ; Iludde's Report, 440, 441 ; S. 
Hazard, 78, 102-104. 



PETER STU YVES ANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 48? 

tailing the injurious conduct of the Swedish officers, and ch. xiv. 
urging him to examine in person the situation of the South 
River, " because the Swedes do here what they please." 
They had entirely shut out the garrison at Fort Bevers- 
rede from " the sight of the water on the kill," and had 
not left them land enough " to make a small garden in 
the spring." The savages, too, "continually renew their 
demand for powder and balls." Commerce was *' nearly 
spoiled ;" for the Dutch were compelled to give two fath- 
oms of white, and one fathom of black sewam for a bea- 
ver. This barter was " rather too much against them." 
Every fathom, it was found, amounted " to three ells," as 
" the Indians always take the largest and tallest among 
them to trade with us."* 

The director, in the mean time, had not neglected mu- Municipal 
nicipal affairs at New Amsterdam. Commissary Keyser, New Am- 
from the council, and Thomas Hall, Martin Kregier, and 
George Woolsey, from the commonalty, were appointed 
"fire-wardens," to visit and inspect all the houses in the 23 Januar) . 
town, " between the fort and the Fresh "Water." In case 
any house should be burned through the owner's negli- 
gence, he was to be fined twenty-five guilders. If the fire- Fire de- 
wardens should condemn any chimney as foul, the owner ''" '"*'" ' 
was to pay a fine of three guilders, "to be appropriated to 
the maintenance of fire-ladders, hooks, and buckets, which 
shall be provided and procured the first opportunity." Tav- 
erns were also regulated. As "almost one full fourth part 
of the town of New Amsterdam" had become "houses for 
the sale of brandy, tobacco, or beer," it was ordained that 10 March. 
no new taverns should be licensed, except by the unanimous reguiat'ld. 
consent of the director and council. Those already estab- 
lished might, however, continue for four years longer, upon 
condition that their owners would abstain from sellinsr to 
the savages, report all brawls to the council, and procure 

* Alb. Rec, v., 6, 10, 11; vii., 206 , xvii., 340-348; Hoi. Doc, viii., 35, 36, 57, 58; 
Hudde's Report, 441, 442 ; O'Call., ii., 83 ; Hazard, Ann. Penn., 104-108 ; ii., N. Y. H. S. 
Coll., ii., 248. A fathom was commonly estimated at as mftch as a man could reach with 
outstretched arms. The Indians, therefore, had good reason to choose their " largest and 
tallest" men to trade with the Dutch. 



488 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

ch. XIV. decent houses, according to their ability, " to adorn the 
town of New Amsterdam." To prevent further damage, 
■ no hogs nor goats were thereafter to be pastured between 
Fort Amsterdam and the " Fresh "Water," except within 
S9 April, proper inclosures. With the approbation of Domine Back- 
services, erus, the council also ordained that "from this time forth, 
in the afternoon as well as in the forenoon, there shall be 
preaching from God's word, and the usual exercises of 
Christian prayer and thanksgiving," which all persons 
Indians at were required to " frequent and attend." Notw^ithstand- 

Manhattan. . 

mg every precaution, the savages were daily seen " run- 
ning about drunk through the Manhattans." The pla- 

13 May. Card against selling them strong drink was thereforere pub- 
lished ; and in addition to former penalties, offenders were 
now " to be arbitrarily punished without any dissimula- 
tion." Many of the inhabitants had been in the habit of 
employing the Indians as servants, or work-people, and had 
allowed their wages to become in arrear. The Indians 
had threatened to right themselves in their own fashion ; 

88 Sept. and all persons were therefore warned to pay their debts 
to the savages promptly, under penalty of a fine. A new 

6 October, proclamation forbade the townspeople from harboring run- 
away servants, whether of the company, "or of any other 

15 Dec. persons living here or elsewhere." The community was 

Vacant lots' i ^ i , . „ . , . 

tobeim- also Warned, " for the last time," to improve their vacant 

proved. 

lots in the town of New Amsterdam. In default, such lots 
would be assigned to persons inclined to improve them, 
and a reasonable compensation would be awarded to the 
original owner.=* 
The Nine Tlic "Nine Men," as we have seen, had commenced 

Men lake 

theinitia- their public scrvicc by passing upon the pro])osJtlons of the 
director. An occasion soon arose for them to take the in- 
itiative. The commonalty, anxious for the prosperity of 
the province, desired to encourage the immigration of per- 
sons who intended to make New Netherland their perma- 
nent home. Whoever came with such an intention was 
welcome. Many strangers had already settled themselves 

* New Amst. Rec, i., 8-11, 15-19, 22-24 ; Appendix, Note Q. 



live. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 489 

at Manhattan and on Long Island without awakening and ch. xiv. 
jealousy. But there were many besides who had come ' 

with other designs ; and the Nine Men wished to check 
what seemed a growing evil. A remonstrance was, there- is Feb. 
fore, addressed to Stuyvesant and his council, proposing va- 
rious measures for remedying the injuries caused by per- 
sons who contributed nothing toward the advancement of 
the province, but who merely carried on a temporary trade 
in furs, which they procured from the Indians by improp- 
er traffic, and then smuggled out of the country at night. 
The remonstrance of the Nine Men prompted new proc- 
lamations, which only produced embarrassment. No per- lo March, 
son was thereafter to be allowed to carry on business in 
New Netherland except permanent residents who had 
taken the oath of allegiance, were rated at from two to 
three thousand guilders at least, and who intended to Residence 
"keep fire and light" in the province. "Old residents," "'^'^"^'^ ' 
however, though not possessing the full property qualifi- 
cation, were allowed trading privileges, provided they re- 
mained in the province, and used only the weights and 
measures of " Old Amsterdam, to which we owe our name." 
To carry out this policy, it was soon afterward ordained is sept. 
that "all Scotch merchants and small dealers, who come meTrchants 
over from their own country with the intention of trading ""^^^ 
here," should " not be permitted to carry on any trade in 
the land" until they had resided three years in the prov- 
ince ; and they were further required to build " a decent 
habitable tenement" within one year after their arrival. 
Strangers, however, might sell goods from their vessels, if 
they were properly entered, and the duty paid on all sales. 
Every Monday was to be a market day, " as well for stran- 
gers as residents." In imitation of one of the customs of 
the Fatherland, an annual "Kermis," or fair for ten davs, J^«™''^ f"" 

I'air. 

commencmg on the Monday after Saint Bartholomew's 
day, was established, at which all persons were privileged 
to sell goods from their tents. The trade on the North and 
South Rivers was reserved to citizens of the requisite qual- 
ifications, who had obtained a pass from the director. The 



490 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XIV. East River, however, was declared to be " free and open 
to every one, no matter to what nation he may belong." 
All vessels under fifty tons were to anchor between the 
Capsey "Hoeck," which divided the East from the North 

Hand or River, and the " hand," or suide-board opposite the " Stadt- 

guide- ... 

boards. hcrberg," which Kieft had built in 1642. Larger vessels 
might anchor as' far eastward as the "second guide-board," 
opposite the " Smit's Vleye." No freight, however, was 
to be landed, nor were any boats to leave the vessels be- 
tween sunset and sunrise.* 

All these regulations were strictly enforced. The con- 
traband trade in fire-arms, of which the New England 
commissioners had complained, was as severely condemned 
by the commonalty ; and the new regulations for its sup- 
pression met their warm approbation. All they desired 
was that they " should be executed without partiality." 
Cases, however, occurred in which the director's action 
exposed him to severe criticism. Grovert Barent, the arm- 
orer of Fort Amsterdam, Joost Teunissen de Backer, Ja- 
cob Reintsen, Jacob Schermerhorn, and his brother, were 

g.iuiy. arrested, and Reintsen and the two Schermerhorns were 

Contra- i i r • i • 

band trade couvictcd and scntcnccd to death for violatmg the proc- 
arms. lamation against illicit trade in fire-arms. The sentence, 
however, was commuted, " by the intervention of many 
good men," to the confiscation of the goods of the convicts. 
Teunissen was released on bail ; and failing to receive a 
pass]X)rt to return to Holland, he left New Netherland se- 
cretly the next year, and brought his case before the States 
General. Stuyvesant was blamed for undue severity in 
these instances, as well as for the seizure of a cargo of 
goods in a ship consigned to Govert Loockermans, one of 
the Nine Men.t But his conduct seems to have been dic- 
tated by an earnest desire to repress the mischievous traf- 
fic which had been carried on so long with the savages. 
This trade centered chiefly at Rensselaerswyck, where 

* Alb. Rcc, vii., 160-189 ; New Amst. Rec, i., 20, 21 ; O'Call., ii., 59-62 ; C. F. IIoDT- 
man's Address, 1847, p. 27. 

t Alb. Rec, vii., 240 ; viii., 60 ; Hoi. Doc, iv,, 238, 243 ; O'Call., ii., 62-64 ; ii., N. Y. 
H. S. Coll., ii., 290, 311, 312, .134, 335. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 49I 

Brandt van Slechtenhorst, the recently-appointed commis- ch. xiv. 
sary of the infant patroon, had now arrived. The new co- 
lonial officer, who was esteemed " a person of stubborn and 22 March. 
headstrong temper," took an early opportunity to exhibit t^n^o^rst^'*" 
his devotion to his feudal chief, and his insubordination to ry"a["ReM- 
the provincial government. A proclamation for the ob-^yg"f' 
servance of a general fast-day throughout New Nether- 
land having been sent to Beverswyck or Beverwyck, for 
publication, Van Slechtenhorst protested against it as an 26 April, 
invasion of "the right and authority of the Lord Patroon." ordination. 
Stuy vesant, whose attention had already been called to the 
illicit trade carried on within the colonie, therefore de- 
termined to hasten his proposed visit there. Embarking juiy. 
with a small escort of soldiers, he soon afterward reached Brugge, 
Fort Orange, where Carl van Brugge was now the com- ryTu'ron 
pany's commissary, in place of Bogaerdt. '^'^"^''' 

The arrival of the commander-in-chief was greeted by stuyvesam 
salutes from the artillery of Fort Orange, and the patroon's or^ange. 
" three pieces of cannon." Van Slechtenhorst, summoned "^" 
to answer for his contempt of the company's authority, re- 
torted by complaining of Stuy vesant's infringement of the 
privileges of the patroon. The director general was in no 23 .luiy. 
mood to trifle, and a protest, conveying the orders of the van siecn- 
provincial government, was handed to the contumacious 
colonial officer. He was directed to refrain from putting 
up any buildings within range of the guns of Fort Orange, 
as they rendered the post insecure. No new ordinances 
affecting trade or commerce within the colony were to be 
made, unless with the assent of the provincial authorities. 
The pledge which the patroon and his officers exacted from 
the colonists, not to appeal from their judgments to the Su- 
preme Court of New Netherland, was held to be " a crime ;" 
and the annual return of all the affairs of the colony to the 
director and council at Manhattan, provided for in the char- 
ter of privileges, was peremptorily required. In reply, Van 28 Juiy. 
Slechtenhorst complained that the director had acted " as tenhorst's 
if he were the lord of the patroon's colonie." The pro- 
hibition from building near Fort Orange was unjustifiable; 



492 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XIV. for " a few years ago" the patroon's trading-house had 
stood on the very border of the moat, and, moreover, the 
land all around was his. After directing that the pali- 

Fort Or- sades of the fort should be replaced by a solid stone wall, 

repaired, and after endeavoring to induce the Mohawks and other 
neighboring savages to preserve peace among themselves, 
with the Dutch, and with their " brethren, the English 
and French," the provincial commander-in-chief returned 
to New Amsterdam, saluted on his departure, as he had 
been on his arrival, by all the artillery at Beverwyck. 
Notwithstanding Stuyvesant's orders, Van Slechtenhorst 

23 August, persevered ; and a new protest from Manhattan warned 
him to refrain from encroachments on the precinct of Fort 
Orange. The colonial officer replied by excepting to the 

8 Sept. technical formality of the director's legal proceedings, and 
by contrasting the practice at New Amsterdam, where 
streets full of houses clustered around the fort, with the 
more severe restrictions at Beverwyck, where no buildings 
were thenceforth to be erected within the range of a mus- 
ket ball from Fort Orange. Van Slechtenhorst followed 
up his letter by forbidding the company's commissary to 
quarry stone, or cut timber within the colonic. At the 
same time, he persisted in erecting houses for the patroon 
"even within pistol-shot of Fort Orange." 

Soldiers Stuyvcsant promptly dispatched a corporal's guard to 

Orange. Fort Orange, and ordered Commissary Van Brugge to de- 
molish the prohibited buildings, arrest Van Slechtenhorst, 
and keep him in custody until he produced his commis- 
sions and instructions. The patroon's officer was also 
summoned to appear and answer at Fort Amsterdam ; and 
the importation of fire-arms into the colonic, without the 
permission of the " Lords Majors" at Amsterdam, was for- 
mally prohibited. 

The unusual presence of a military force created some 
excitement in the quiet hamlet. The bearing of the sol- 
diers was insolent; Van Slechtenhorst himself, while walk- 

81 Sept. ing in the street with his deputy, was rather rudely sa- 
luted ; the colonists were offended ; and the Mohawk sav- 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 493 

ages wondered why the " "Wooden Leg"* wished to de- ch. xiv. 
stroy the houses " which were to shelter them in storms "~~~r~ 
and winter." They could not understand the motives for pgg,i„g3 ^f 
the director's military restrictions. "Come to us in theff^^J^^ 
Maquaas country," said they, " and we will give you 
plenty of land." 

Van Brugge, unwilling to proceed to extremities, for- 
bore to demolish the houses or arrest the patroon's officer ; 
but he executed the rest of his duty ; and Van Slechten- 
horst refusing to produce his commission, was summoned van siech- 
to appear and answer at Fort Amsterdam. The soldiers summoned 
were now directed to return to Manhattan. The patroon's tan. 
representative again exhibited his loyalty in a protest 20 October, 
against Stuyvesant's infringement of the privileges of his 
feudal chief. Van Brugge's mode of serving the summons 
had not technically conformed to the practice at home, 
and was not legal. The patroon was master on his own 
land, and his officers could arrest all trespassers, and pre- 
vent the cutting of timber. It was a mere subterfuge that 
his buildings interfered with the safety of Fort Orange, 
which one could now " enter or quit at pleasure, by night 
or by day." 

The provincial government promptly maintained that 23 Nor. 
their authority "extended to the colonie of Rensselaers- tiers*" from 
wyck, as well as to the other colonies, such as Heemstede, sant. 
Vlissingen, and Gravensande." The company's chief of- 
ficers. Van Brugge and Labbatie, were directed to proceed 
with the repairs of Fort Orange, and authorized to take 
timber and quarry-stones for that purpose from any place 
within the territory of New Netherland. All buildings 
within gun-shot of the fort were to be destroyed, and the 
jurisdiction of the company over its precinct, and their 
"ancient and uninterrupted use" of the land in its neigh- 
borhood, were to be firmly maintained. A fresh citation 

* The savages constantly gave descriptive or characteristic names as well to the Eu- 
ropeans as to themselves. They called Stuyvesant the "Wooden Leg." Josselyn, in 
1674, spoke of him as the Dutch governor " with a silver leg;" and Ebeling and Acrelius 
follow .losselyn. The Mohawks and Josselyn were probably both right ; Stuyvesant seems 
to have used a wooden leg strapped with silver bands. 



494 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XIV. from the schout-fiscal accompanied these orders. Van 
Slechtenhorst's insubordination, it averred, had become 

30 Nov. ' notorious, and the summons which had been served upon 
him, in a courteous and sufficiently formal manner, had 
been disobeyed, though " the river remained open, the 
winter pleasant, and several vessels sailed up and down 
during the whole month of November." To cure all doubts, 
Van Slechtenhorst was now peremptorily commanded to 
appear, the next April, at Fort Amsterdam, where he 
would " be informed of the complaint against him." Thus 
ended the question for the present. In Stuyvesant's mil- 
itary judgment, the colonists at Beverwyck clustered near 
Fort Orange "through pride." Perhaps a still stronger 
motive was their natural anxiety to be as near as possible 
to the only frontier citadel which could protect them, in 
time of need, from the wild men of the forests.* 

Megapoien- Mcgapoleusis, who had been the clergyman of the col- 

Backerus. ouic siucc 1642, having requested permission to return to 
the Fatherland, at the earnest solicitation of the Classis 

15 August, of Amsterdam, agreed to remain until the next year. 
Domine Backerus, not satisfied with the condition of 

2 Sept. things at Manhattan, also asked his dismission. This re- 
quest was seconded by Stuyvesant and the other elders 

11 Sept. and deacons, who desired that " an old, experienced, and 
godly minister might be sent to them, to the end that their 
very bewildered people might not, by the departure of their 
present clergymen, be left in destitution." The Classis 

7 Dec. endeavored to procure other clergymen for New Nether- 
land, and consultations were held with the directors of the 
company and the heirs of Van Rensselaer ; but while ev- 
ery effort was made, it was difficult to find any experi- 
enced ministers in Holland willing to undertake " so far 
distant a voyage."! 

The popular discontent at New Amsterdam had now 
grown to a very significant degree. The debts due to the 

* Alb. Rec, iv., 16, 44 ; v., 72-00 ; vii., 192-219 ; Stuyvesant's Letters ; Renss. MSS. ; 
O'Call., ii., 69-79 ; ante, 304, 374, 420. 

t Cor. Classis Amst. ; Letters of Megapolensis of the 15th ofAagust, and o^'Backerna 
of the 2d of September, 1648. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 495 

company, which Kieft had left uncollected to the amount ch. xiv. 
of thirty thousand guilders, were called in ; while the peo- 
pie complained that their own claims for wages and grain Growth of 
remained unpaid. The Nine Men were obliged to inter- ^ontenttT 
fere ; and the proceedings Avhich the fiscal had been di- fs'^ocwber 
rected to take were " put off for a time." The high cus- 
toms' duties which were exacted from the colonists, amount- 
ing to nearly thirty per centum, "besides waste," and the 
avidity which the director exhibited to confiscate, was a 
" vulture, destroying the prosperity of New Netherland, 
diverting its trade, and making the people discontented." 
The " bad report" spread itself every where ; among the 
neighboring English ; north and south ; and even in the 
West Indies and Carribee Islands. Not a ship dared come 
from those places ; while credible Boston traders assured 
the Nine Men that more than twenty-five vessels would 
annually visit Manhattan from those islands, "if the own- 
ers were not fearful of confiscation." 

The representatives of the commonalty complained to The Nine 
Stuyvesant, and contrasted their own "desolate and ruin- plain to 
ous" state with the "flourishing condition" of their neigh- sam. 
bors. This the director admitted that he observed, but 
could not remedy ; he only followed the company's orders. 
The commonalty now thought it expedient and necessary Delegation 
"to send a deputation to their High Mightinesses." Stuy- proposed, 
vesant commended the project, and "urged it strongly." 
A person was already spoken of to go as delegate, when the 
director required that the communication with the govern- 
ment of the Fatherland should be "according to his wish- 
es." Perceiving the object of this demand, the Nine Men 
would not consent, "and the matter therefore fell asleep." 
The English emigrants, " who had been depended upon, Defection 
and who were associated in the affair," from time to time giish from 
withdrew from the Dutch, who were eager for reforms, side. 
This made the necessity of action greater ; and at the next December, 
election the Nine Men were changed.* 

* IIol. Doc, iv., 40 ; ii., N. Y. H. S. Coll., ii., 312-315, 335, 336. The new board of Nine 
Men for 1649 consisted of seven of the old members, with Adriaen van der Donck and 
Oloff Stevensen van Cortlandt. 



496 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XIV. The onerous customs' regulations of New Netherland 
were not only a sore annoyance io the New Enoland co- 
The New l^uial governments, but they produced their natural conse- 
foion^es quence. Retaliation was threatened. The sale of guns 
?he"i)ut"h°'^^^^^ powder to the Indians was another grievance. By 
uia'tioifs'^'^'^ this practice the greater part of the beaver trade had been 
drawn to the French and Dutch ; and the means of the 
New England colonies to make returns for English com- 
modities "were grown very short."*" 
March. Early in the year, Eaton had written to Massachusetts, 

proposing "a prohibition of all trade with the Dutch until 
satisfaction were given," and accusing the director of hav- 
ing endeavored to " animate the natives to war upon the 
corrc- English." A long correspondence ensued, in which Stuy- 
with iiie vesant vindicated his conduct, pressed for a meeting with 
gland au- the commissioucrs, and reiterated his peaceful professions ; 

thorities. ni-ivr-nii 1-- ^ • ■ ^ ^ 

April to and the New England authorities, on their side, proposed 
"^"* ' to fix June of the next year as the time for a conference. 
In this correspondence, Stuyvesant, betraying too much 
anxiety, displayed a want of diplomatic tact. The En- 
glish regarded his conduct as an evidence of the weakness 
both of the West India Company and of the Dutch colo- 
nial government, and thought that their embarrassed ad- 
versary, whose spirit was " beginning to fall," could very 
well abide their convenience. t 

The following September the commissioners met at 
Plymouth, and, " by way of preparation to a meeting with 
the Dutch governor, or provision for their own safety and 

-•fsept. convenience," thought fit to write to StuyVcsant. The 
Mohawks near Fort Orange, whom Pynchon, at Springfield, 
had described as the " terror of ail Indians," were growing 
bold and daring with the possession of arms furnished to 
them by the Dutch. The customs' regulations at Man- 
hattan had not yet been modified ; the seizure of Wester- 
house's ship at New Haven, and the claim of territorial 
jurisdiction, were unexplained. They therefore notified 

* Winthrop, ii., 312. 

t Winthrop. li , 31S, 310, 324-330; Hubbaril, 438; Stuyvesant's Letters, Alb., i. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 497 

the director that Dutch traders in New England must ex- ch. xiv. 

pect a requital of the "inconvenient impositions" laid upon 

all persons within " the Dutch Plantation ;" that guns and ^^^ ^^^_' 



missioners 



ammunition would be seized, and retaliatory restraints ^^pt 
upon the Indian trade would he enforced ; and that future X^aHa- 
seizures of ships within English jurisdiction would be met*'""' 
by " all suitable and just" reprisals. 

Stuy vesant replied that he had done all in his power to stujrye- 
repress the illicit traffic with the savages; that English pianations 
traders had been treated with all possible lenity, and, in 
some respects, were even more favored than the Dutch ; 
and that he had urged the "West India Company to mod- 
ify their injurious regulations. As to territorial claims, 
what the English called Cape Cod the Dutch called Cape 
Malebarre ; what he himself had meant by Cape Cod, was 
Point Judith. His own commission was as ample as could 
be desired. New Netherland was not a "plantation," as 
the commissioners had erroneously called it. The States 
General had invested it with the privileges of a " prov- 
ince," and in all their commissions had recognized it as 
such. 

The director also wrote to the West India Company, in 23 Ueo. 
pressing terms, urging that the differences between the co- 
lonial governments of New Netherland and New England 
ought to be promptly settled in Europe.* But the dis- 
tracted condition of England prevented any immediate 
hope of an arrangement. 

* Winthrop, ii., 386 ; Hazard, ii.. 102-105 ; N. Y. H. S. Coll., i., 202 ; Stnyvesant's Let- 
ten; O'CaU., ii., 98-104 ; Alb. Rec, iv., 15. 

Il 



498 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



1649. 



CHAPTER XV. 

1649-1651. 

The year 1649 was one of the most memorable in his- 
tory. A contest between the people and their sovereign 
had been carried on in England, as it had long before been 
carried on in the Netherlands. Opposition had been suc- 
ceeded by revolt and civil war. The King of Great Brit- 
ain, more unfortunate than the King of Spain, became a 
prisoner in the hands of his subjects. A revolutionary tri- 
bunal pronounced him a tyrant and a traitor. In the end 
30 January, of January, 1649, Charles I. was beheaded in front of his 
Charles I. owu banqucting-hall, and England was declared to be a 
republic. 

Yet the English monarchical principle survived. The 
army and its great leader were supreme. A military des- 
potism governed the land ; and Cromwell at length became 
dictator. The people of England had exercised their right 
to revolt ; but they did not gain, by a change of masters, 
those political advantages which the people of the Nether- 
lands had gained by the deposition of their sovereign and 
the declaration of their national independence. 
Feelings of Tlic terrible tragedy at AVliitehall excited the detesta- 
tion of all classes throughout the United Provinces. Tln^ 
Dutch government was seriously embarrassed. The Prince 
of Wales and the Duke of York, escaping from England, 
had found an asylum at the Hague, with their brother-in- 
law William, prince of Orange, the stadtholder ; and their 
united influence had prevailed on the States Greneral in 
refuse an audience to Strickland, the parliamentary agent, 
while Bos well was still recognized as the resident mini.s- 
tor of Grreat Britain. This naturally provoked antipathy 



i 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 499 

and suspicion in London. A new cause of "bitterness chap. xv 
arose, when Dorislaus, who had been sent by the Parlia- 
ment to propose an alliance with the United Provinces, 
was murdered by some Scotchmen who had taken refuge 12 May. 
ut the Hague. Soon afterward, Strickland quitted Hoi- Threatened 
land, without having obtained an audience of the States tween En- 
Greneral ; and Joachimi, the Dutch ambassador, was or- the Nether- 
dered to leave London. A rupture between the United 
Provinces and England appeared imminent. 

The shock which troubled Europe was felt in America. Effector 

. the king's 

ihe new order 01 government established in England was death m 
viewed with more favor in the Puritan colonies than in 
Virginia. From Cromwell's jealousy of the Dutch much 
was hoped ; and the dim prospect of a war between the 
Batavian Republic and the English Commonwealth could 
not but have an important influence upon the intercourse 
between their colonial governments across the Atlantic. 

At this crisis, the negotiations between New Netherland Negotia- 

. tions with 

and New England were renewed. In view of public af- the united 

" . . ' Colonies. 

fairs, the West India Company had instructed their direct- 27 .January. 
or " to live with his neighbors on the best terms possible."* 
Eaton, in the name of the commissioners, now proposed to 21 April. 
Stuyvesant a meeting at Boston, in June or July, as Brad- 
ford and Dudley were both too far advanced in life to make 
a long journey. He also insisted that the customs' duties 
exacted at Manhattan should be speedily abolished. Mean- 
while, Winthrop, the venerable father of Massachusetts, Death of 
had died, at the age of sixty-one years ; and his death was 26 March. 
regretted by the Dutch director as "the sad loss of one 4 May. 
whose wisdom and integrity might have done much in 
composing matters" between New Netherland and New 
England. In regard to the proposed interview, Stuyve- conference 
sant considered Connecticut a more convenient place for by^'st'uyve- 
both parties than Boston ; and he offered to visit the En- 10 May. 
glish governor at New Haven to have a friendly conference. 

Eaton, however, did not think that a private interview Eaton de- 
could be satisfactory, as he would be obliged to press the 

♦ Alb. Rec, iv., 15 ; Basnage, i., 141-147 ; Davies, ii., 673-676 ; Bancroft, ii., 14-17. 



500 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chip. XV. complaints of his own people very urgently. At the same 
time, he requested specific information respecting the ru- 
26 May. Hiorcd chaugcs in the Dutch customs' regulations. The 
director acquainted him that the ten per cent, formerly 
levied on goods imported from New England had been sus- 
pended ; and that the hand-board which marked the an- 
chorage-ground off the shore of New Amsterdam had been 
blown down, and would not be re-erected. Eaton now 
17 June, demanded that English vessels passing to and from Vir- 
ginia and Delaware Bay, and trading at Manhattan, should 
be entirely free from all charges, "by what name soever 
called," both on goods imported and exported. Stuyve- 
ajuiy. sant, however, replied, that he had yielded already as 
much as he dared, without further orders from his supe- 
riors. To them alone was he responsible ; by no other 
power would he allow his public conduct to be regulated.* 
The commissioners of the United Colonies soon affcer- 
iAxigust ward held an extraordinary meeting at Boston, at which 
Eaton urged that measures should be taken to support the 
New Haven people in their proposed settlements on Dela- 
ware Bay. But Stuyvesant had already warned Endicott 
and Bradford that he would vigorously maintain the right 
of the Dutch to the South River. The commissioners, 
therefore, prudently determined not to encourage, by any 
public act, the settlement of English colonists in that re- 
JV August, gion. They insisted, however, upon the English right to 
oi3Mm-^ New Haven, and thence eastward to Point Judith and 
[iftuyve™ Cape Cod. The director's reply to their letter of the pre- 
*"*"' vious September was unsatisfactory and defective. He 

was silent with respect to the trade in guns and ammuni- 
tion carried on at Fort Orange ; he had not informed them 
about the revenue regulations at Manhattan ; he had made 
no reparation for the seizure of Westerhouse's ship at New 
Haven, but had referred him " to the justice of Holland." 
They therefore notified him that all trade with any of the 
Indians within the limits of any of the United Colonies 
was forbidden, imder penalty of confiscation, " to all per- 

* Stnyvesant'B Letters, Alb., i. ; O'Call., ii., 104-106 ; Hazard's Ann. Penn., 116. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 5§1 

sons but such as are inhabitants within the said English CHAr, xv 
jurisdictions, and subject to their laws and government."* ~~T~ 
With this bold step, the correspondence between the p^g^ f^j, 
commissioners and Stuyvesant ended for the present. Ex- ["rade wuh 
eluding the Dutch from the valuable Indian trade which Engunl 
they had so long enjoyed, and to which they felt they had ^"'^'^"* 
a rio^ht, it only added to the causes of dissatisfaction al- Effect in 

New NetJt 

ready rankling in the minds of the people of New Nether- eriand. 
land. 

At the last election, the Nine Men had been strengthen- 
ed by the choice of the energetic Adriaen van der Donck 
to a seat at their board. It was now determined that the Delegation 
project of sending a delegation to Holland, which had fall- again pro- 
en through the previous year, should be executed. The 
company had been waited upon a long while in vain. Re- 
forms had been promised from time to time, but there was 
no amendment. The Nine Men therefore applied to Stuy- 
vesant for leave to confer with the commonalty. In re- 
ply, the popular tribunes received " a very long letter," to stuyve- 
the effect that "communication must be made through man<is. 
the director, and his instructions be followed." 

To this the Nine Men could not assent. They informed views or 

the Nine 

Stuyvesant that they would not send any thing to the Fa- Men. 
therland without his having a copy, so that he could an- 
swer for himself ; but that his last demand was unreasona- 
ble, and " antagonistic to the welfare of the country." The 
director's letter, however, as the Nine Men read it, sug- 
gested that they should inquire " what approbation the 
commonalty would give to this business, and how the ex- 
pense should be defrayed." As the director would not al- 
low the people to be convened, the popular representatives 
"went round from house to house," and spoke to their The com- 
constituents. This excited Stuyvesant's displeasure, and consulted. 
means were used to prevent the Nine Men from doing any 
thing. Injurious reports were spread among the common- intrigues 
alty ; and the English settlers, who were chiefly in the in- sant 
terest of the director and council, were employed in coun- 

* Hazard, ii., 127-134 ; N. Y. H. S. Coll., i., 208-210 ; S. Hazard's Ann. Penn., 119. 



5U2 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF KEW YOJIK. 



1649. 



A great 
'■ouncil 
summoned 
21 Feb. 



Van der 
Donek's 
journal 
seized. 



4 March. 
Meeting of 
the Great 
Council. 



5 March. 
Proceed- 
ings 
against 
■''an der 
Donck. 



15 March. 



teracting the efforts of the popular tribunes. These in- 
trigues were discovered and exposed ; so, "in order to make 
a diversion, many suits were brought against those who 
were considered the ringleaders." To neutralize the pro- 
posed movement of the Nine Men, the director and council 
also summoned a meeting of delegates from the militia and 
the burghers, to consider the question of sending agents 
to the Fatherland on "some important points." 

The Nine Men, feeling theh* responsibility, considered 
it necessary that regular memoranda should be kept, from 
which "a journal" might be drawn up at the proper time. 
This duty was intrusted to Van der Donck, who, " by a 
resolution adopted at the same time," was lodged in the 
house of Jansen, one of the board. The director, informed 
of this by Hall and Jansen, went to Van der Donek's 
chamber during his absence, and seized the " rough draft," 
and other jiapers of the Nine Men. The next day. Van der 
Donck himself was arrested and imprisoned. 

A short time afterward, the delegates from the militia 
and the burghers met in "great council" at Fort Amster- 
dam. Van Dincklagen, the vice-director, protested against 
Stuyvesant's arbitrary proceedings, and demanded that 
Van der Donck should be admitted to bail. This, how- 
ever, was refused. Van der Donck now asked for his pa- 
pers, to correct some errors which had crept into them 
But this request was also denied ; and, on his examination, 
he "could not make it right in any way." Another meet- 
ing of the council was summoned, at which Stuy vesant de- 
livered his written opinion. Van der Donck had been ar- 
rested for calumniating the officers of the government ; he 
had explained his libels equivocally ; his conduct tending 
to bring the sovereign authority into contempt, he should 
be compelled to prove or to retract his allegations; and, in 
default, sliould be excluded from the council and from the 
board of Nine Men. Van Dincklagen alone opposed the 
opinion of the director. The rest of the members sided 
with Stuy vesant ; and Van der Donck was unseated.* 

* ii.,N.Y.H.S. Coll., ii., 315-317, 336; O'Call., ii., 69-92 ; Breeden Raedt, 39 ; an«e. p. 495 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 503 

In the mean time, the harsh judgment against Kuyter chap. x\ . 
and Melvn had been reviewed in the Fatherland, and acts'"""""" 

XO-1: i 

had been passed by the States Greneral suspending Stuy- c^gp of 
vesant's sentence, citing him to defend it at the Hague, f^uZ '""^ 
and granting to the appellants the full enjoyment of all the 
rights of colonists in New Netherland. Bearing these au- 
thoritative papers, Melyn returned to Manhattan. Anx- 
ious that his triumph should be as public as his disgrace 
had been, he demanded that the acts of their High Might- s March, 
inesses should be read and explained by the Nine Men to 
the commonalty, who were assembled in the church with- 
in Fort Amsterdam. A hubbub arose. After an exciting 
debate, the point was yielded, and the mandamus and 
summons were read to the people. " I honor the states, 
and shall obey their commands," said Stuyvesant; " I shall 
send an attorney to sustain the sentence." This was all le Marcu. 

StUVV6~ 

the answer he would give. The members of the council sanfs ob- 
explained their conduct as they severally thought best. 
Van Dincklagen frankly acknowledged that he had erred ; 
but the rest of his colleagues would give no satisfactory re- 
plies. The director and secretary positively refused to give 23 March. 
the written answer which Melyn demanded. Stuyvesant's 
enmity even extended to Melyn's family ; and his son-in- 
law, Jacob Loper, was refused permission to trade on the 14 June. 
South River.* 

A circumstance now occurred which added to the pop- Affair of 

Vs-Striclc 

ular dissatisfaction. The directors of the West India Com- 
pany, fearing that war might break out with the savages 
unless their anxiety to be provided with arms and ammu- 
nition should be satisfied, had intimated an opinion that 
" the best policy is to furnish them with powder and ball, 
but with a sparing hand ;" and, upon the representation 
of the colonists at Rensselaerswyck, Stuyvesant had order- 
ed G-errit Vastrick, a factor, to bring him over a case of 
guns from Holland. These arms were landed " in the full Apru 
light of day," and delivered to Commissary Keyser at Fort 

* Hoi. Doc, iii., 128-228, 233, 360-378 ; v., C6-106 ; Alb. Rec, iv., 95, 104, 215 ; rii., 
246 ; Hazard's Ann. Penn., 117 ; O'Call., ii., 59, 84 ; Breeden Raedt, 31-.S6 ; ante, p. 473. 



504 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XV. Amsterdam. The people now began to complain that " the 
director was every thing, and did the business of the whole 
■ country, having several shops himself; that he was a brew- 
er, and had breweries ; was a part owner of ships, and a 
merchant and a trader, as well in lawful as contraband 

21 April, articles." Finding how strongly public opinion was run- 
ning against him, Stuyvesant was obliged to exhibit the 
orders of the directors, and explain his own interest in the 
affair. His explanations, however, were not entirely satis- 
factory, and the transaction was complained of to the States 
Greneral. The Amsterdam Chamber' afterward reproved 
their director for his indiscretion, and also commented upon 

sam's* his purchase, for private purposes, of a large bouwery upon 
ouwery. ]\ja,nhattan Island.* 

Stuyvesant Van dcr Donck had now become a political martyr, and 

still op- . 1.1- r 111 

poses the fetuvvcsant s invetcratc hostility connrmed the popular 

Nine Men. '' . . "^ , . r , ■ 

tribunes in their determination to obtain a redress of their 
grievances from the States Greneral. Kieft's placard re- 
specting the authentication of all documents before the 
provincial secretary was again formally enacted, " for the 
purpose of cutting off the convenient mode of proof;" and 
8 May. thc director's fears even led him to tell Domine Backerus 
Domine in pcrsou, iiot to rcad from the pulpit any papers wliatso- 

Backerusto r • • ^i --i i i-.i 

readunau- cvcr referring to the provincial government, unless they 
per" froir had bceii previously approved by the administration.! But 
none of these measures could repress the spirit of the pop- 
ular representatives. 
26 July. A memorial to the States Greneral was prepared, in 

Memorial i-iir ^ r r i 

of the Nine which thc rcforms sought for from the government of the 
states Gen- Fatherland were distinctly stated. I. New Netherland 
"■' should be peopled at once with colonists, to be brought 

over from Holland in public vessels. The States General 
should also " be pleased to take this province under their 
own gracious safeguard, and to allow their fatherly affec- 
tion for this land to be promulgated and made manifest 
throughout the United Netherlands by their own accorded 

* Alb. Rec., iv., 1, 2, 24, 31 ; ii., N. Y. 11. S. Coll., ii., 310, 311, 334; O'Call., ii., 93, 
108 ; Bancroft, ii., 294. t Alb. Rec, vii., 243 ; ii., N. Y. II. S. Coll., ii., 318. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 507 

subjects. The mode in which the country is now govern- ch«.p. xv. 
ed falls severely upon it, and is intolerable, for nobody is 
unmolested or secure in his property lonsjer than the di- , ^ 

1 I J o ^ belter 

rector pleases, who is generally strongly inclined to con- e"^""'- 
fiscating. •* * * A good population would be the conse- qu''^'' 
(juence of a good government, as we have shown, accord- 
ing to our ability, in our memorial. And although to 
give free passage and equip ships, if it be necessary, would 
be expensive at first, yet, if the result be considered, it 
would ultimately prove to be a wise measure, if by that 
means farmers and laborers, together with other poor peo- 
ple, were brought into the country with the little proper- 
ty which they have. Of these the Fatherland has enough 
to spare. We believe it would then prosper, especially as p,o>p. r i^ 
good privileges and exemptions, which we regard as the''"" "'' ' 
mother of population, would encourage the inhabitants to 
carry on commerce and lawful trade. Every one would 
be allured hither by the pleasantness, situation, salubrity, 
and fruitfulness of the country, if protection were secured 
within the already established boundaries. It would then, 
with Grod's assistance, according to human judgment, all 
go well, and New Netherland would in a few years be a 
brave place, and be able to do service to the Netherland 
nation, to repay richly the cost, and to thank its benefac- 
tors." 

This " Vertoogh," or Remonstrance, which, as well as the Authorsiiip 
memorial, appears to have been drawn up by Van der oithe'^'Re- 
Donck, was signed by the same persons. Three of the strance. • 
signers, Yan der Donck, Couwenhoven, and Bout, were de- ueiegiUts 
puted by the rest to proceed to the Hague, and lay their tiieriand' 
complaints before the government of the Fatherland. Bear- 
ing with them formal letters of credence to the States G-en- ;*J {">> • 
eral from their colleagues, and from Van Dincklagen, the 
vice-director, the first delegates of the people of New Neth- 
erland embarked for Holland on their important mission.* i5Augusi 

Domine Backerus, who had already received permission Depnnnre 
to return from the Classis of Amsterdam, now took hisBackJnir 

* Hoi. Doc, iv., 22, 26, 71-207, 208 ; v., 57-63 ; ii. N. Y. H. S. Coll., ii., 319, 320. 



508 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XV. leave of the church at Manhattan. Stuyvesant very nat- 
urally apprehended that the Domine, on his arrival in Hoi- 
^j. ' land, would "join the complainants" coming from New 
Netherland ; and the event verified the director's fears. 
He availed himself, however, of the occasion to write earn- 
Aiigusi. estly to the Classis of Amsterdam to send out a pious, well- 
qualified, and diligent schoolmaster. " Nothing," he add- 
ed, "is of greater importance than the right early instruc- 
tion of youth." 

Domine Megapolensis, having also obtained his letters 
of dismission from the church at Rensselaerswyck, was 
about to sail for the Fatherland, whither his wife had al- 
ready returned. The colonists appeared to be threatened 
with the total loss of a ministry ; and Stuyvesant pressed 
Megapolensis to remain at Manhattan, where children 
were every Sunday presented for baptism, " sometimes 
one, sometimes two, yea, sometimes three and four togeth- 
succeeded cr." Tlic Domiuc was finally prevailed upon to give up 
leiisis.^^^" his voyage at the urgent solicitation of the council, and 
"^"^ ' was formally installed as the successor of Backerus, in the 
church of New Amsterdam, with a yearly salary of twelve 
hundred guilders.* 
29 July. All this time Melyn had been fruitlessly endeavoring to 

case. obtain from Stuyvesant a reversal or mitigation of his sen- 
tence. Weary of suffering, he now embarked again for 
Holland, "with the delegates of the commonalty," to seek 
tardy justice in the Fatherland. The director's pride was 
10 August, sorely wounded by the action of the States General; to 
wint's^an- whom, howcvcr, he wrote that ho would obey their sum- 
IwtesOen-mons, and appear in person at the Hague, if discharged 
by the company ; but that, as it was, he should send an 
attorney. He thanked them for having " kept one ear 
open," as many of the papers necessary to his justification 
had been lost with the Princess, in which Kieft had been 
wrecked. Melyn had abused their safe-conduct, and had 
behaved mutinously ; and he himself would rather never 

* Cor. Classis Amsterdam; Letter of Stuyvesant to the Classis, August, 1649; Alb 
Bee, iv., 16, 23 ; vii., 229, 251-256 ; Rev Ur. Do Witt, in N. Y. H. S. Proc, 1814, 71, 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 509 

have received the commission of their High Mightinesses, chap. xv 
than have had his authority lowered in the eyes hoth of 
neighbors and subjects. 

Cornelis van Tienhoven, the secretary of the province, van xiun- 
was the person whom the director selected to appear for to'iioiiand 
him at the Hague. Van Tienhoven was "cautious, sub- oi-uiJ^dJ^" 
tie, intelligent, and sharp-witted ;" he had been long in 
New Netherland, and its circumstances were thoroughly 
known to him. The representative of the director imme- August. 
diately set sail for Holland in a small vessel, carrying with 
him a mass of exculpatory documents ; among which was 
a letter to the Amsterdam Chamber from the magistrates Letter f,,;, 
of the English settlement at Grravesend, who, under the 
influence of Baxter, declared their confidence in Stuyve- 
sant's " wisdom and justice in the administration of the 
common- weal." To insure Van Tienhoven's earlier arriv- 
al in Holland, he was sent off fourteen days before the ship 
which conveyed the popular delegates and Melyn. The 
secretary, wishing to avoid the scene of Kieft's shipwreck, 
went by the north of Ireland. But the experiment was 
unlucky. The ship in which Van der Donck and his col- 
leagues saded, keeping a straight course for the channel, 
reached the Fatherland before Stuyvcsant's baffled emis- 
sary could make his port.* 

Since Kieft's treaty of 1645, the disposition of the sav- Temper of 
ages had generally been friendly, although the contiguity River sav- 
of the whites occasionally produced excesses and blood- " 
shed. Early in the spring of this year, a Meckgackhanic 
Indian killed Simon Vanderbilt at Paulus' Hook. Stuy- 
vesant refrained from attempting retaliation ; and the sav- 
ages sent a deputation to Fort Amsterdam to solicit for- July, 
giveness and renew their covenant of peace. The director 
thanked them for their visit, and expressed his wish to live 
in " neighborly friendship." Any injuries done them by 

* Hoi. Doc, iv., 8, 217 ; v., 65, 66, 82-205 ; ix., 234 ; Alb. Rec, vii., 220-247 ; O'Call., 
ii., 86-88, 143 ; Breeden Raedt, 37. During this visit, Melyn seems to have prepared the 
" Breeden Raedt," which was printed at Antwerp, his native place. It is a quarto tract 
of forty-live pages, bearing the date of 1649, and is the earliest known separate publica- 
tion respecting New Netherland.— See ante, p. 48, note; Int. Mag., Dec, 1851, p. 597. 



510 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XV. the Dutch wouW be surely punished, if they complained 
directly to him. Accepting their gifts, Stuyvesant -made 
■ them some presents in return ; the chain of peace was 
again rubbed bright; " and so the savages departed very 
much satisfied." 
Kaisitiii From the time that Van der Donck attempted to estab- 

;ick ceded to lish a colouie at Katskill, the patroon of Rensselaerswyck 
oiRensse- had covctcd that region; and, disregarding the patent 
' which Kieft had granted three years before, Van Slechten- 
19 April, hcirst now procured a cession of the Indian title. The next 
27 May. moutli, a large tract was purchased at Claverack, on the 
opposite side of the river. These acquisitions emboldened 
the proprietors of the colonic to reassert their claim to a 
staple right at Beeren Island. The arrogant pretension 
was derided ; but as yet Stuyvesant had taken no meas- 
14 July, ures to oppose it. Two months afterward, however, he 
..uaesgeek bouglit for thc compauy the region called Wcckqviaesgeek, 
by the West on thc cast sliorc of the North River, comprising a large 
pany. proportion of the present county of West Chester ; and the 
Indian grantors at the same time promised to induce the 
North River chiefs "to talk the matter over, and not to 
sell to any without the knowledge of the director gen- 
eral."* 
South Riv- In the mean time, Printz had spared no efforts to obtain 
from the savages all the lands on the cast side of the South 
River, between Fort Nassau and the Falls at Trenton, 
intelligence of this design was communicated to the gov- 
ernment at Fort Amsterdam, who, perceiving that its ob- 
ject was to cut thc Dutch off from intercourse between 
23 May. the North and South Rivers, heartily assented to Hudde's ■ 
proposition to purchase "all the lands above Fort Nassau." 
As the commissary was unprovided with means, an asso- 
ciation was formed with Simon Root and three other Dutch 
fi April, traders, providing that the territory they might obtain 
lands above should bc transferred to the company whenever their ad- 
sl'i. '^ vances should be repaid. Under this agreement, the parr- 

« Alb. Rec., vii., 252 ; O. G., 507 ; Renss. MSS. ; O'Call., ii., 95, 90, 159; Bolton • 
Wcft Chester, i., 165 : antr, p. 378, 421. 



PETER STUY7ESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 513 

does not intend to permit any one to navigate this river chap. xv. 
vi^ith a commercial view ; and that he will repel with force 
every one who with that purpose shall come there, or into 
Rensselaerswyck."* 

Suggestions were soon made that several hundred char- 22 Feb. 
ity children in the orphan houses at Amsterdam should be to promote 
sent over; and emigrants in large numbers pressed their *^'"'^'""" 
applications for means of conveyance. But the compan}'' 
did not supply sufficient vessels for the demand. At last 
Van der Donck and his colleagues succeeded in arranging lo March, 
for the conveyance of two hundred additional persons. 
The company agreed to advance four thousand guilders, 
and to allow seven thousand more out of the colonial rev- 
enue, upon condition that the emigrants would bind them- 
selves to remain three years in the province. Van Tien- 
hoven also prepared several explanatory papers respecting 
the boundaries, the customs' regulations, the mode of es- 
tablishing colonies and bouweries in New Netherland, and 
a schedule of the taxes imposed in New England, which 
were all submitted to the committee of the States Gen- 4 March. 
eral. The delegates of the commonalty, on their part, pre- 
sented further memorials respecting the high duties exact- 7 March. 
ed by the company, and the unredressed grievances of the 
province.! 

After full consideration, the committee reported to the 11 April, 
States Greneral " a remedy" which it was thought " ought thTcom" 
to give contentment to both parties until further provision tiies.o.oa 
should be made." Passing over for the present several eriand. 
points in the " great Remonstrance presented from the 
commonalty," they submitted the draft of a " Provisional 
Order" for the government of New Netherland, which they 
recommended that the States G-eneral, with the advice 
and consent of a majority of the directors of the company, 
should enact. 

The proposed Order condemned the measures by which 
Kieft had brought on the Indian war, and required that 

* Alb. Rec, iv., 25, 26 ; ii., N. Y. 11. S. Coll., i., 377 ; ante, p. 420. 
t Hoi. Doc, v., Ill, 123, 131, 134, 159, 179, 191, 215; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iv., 25-36. 
K K 



514 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XV. in future no hostilities should be waged "against the ab- 
origines or neighbors of New Netherland" without the 
Provisional knowledge of the States Greneral. Darn and Planck, who 
uio'^o'^ern- ^^^^ petitioned for the war, should be sent to the Hague, 
New Netii- ^o ^^ examined. The trade with the Indians, in guns and 
"''''*"''■ ammunition, should be gradually and totally abolished ; 
the inhabitants should be armed and enrolled as militia ; 
and the forts should be maintained in such a manner as 
to afford proper protection to the inhabitants. Three cler- 
ciergymen gjmen morc should be provided ; one to attend divine serv- 
Inasters. ice at Renssclaerswyck, one " in and around the ^city of 
New Amsterdam," and a third in the "distant settle- 
ments ;" while the commonalty should " be obliged to 
cause the youth to be instructed by good schoolmasters." 
The provincial council should favor, by every means, agri- 
culture and the peopling of the country, restrain the ex- 
portation of cattle, and promote "a good trade and com- 
merce" between New Netherland and Brazil. The com- 
monalty should be convoked, and be induced to consent to 
Taxes. the imposition of taxes and duties, "placing the collection, 
administration, and payment of the recognitions on such a 
footing as their constituents shall order." Two counselors 
should be elected by the commonalty. Stuyvesant should 
be instructed " to return to Holland and report;" and a suit- 
able person, " experienced in matters relating to agricul- 
ture," should be dispatched " to take charge of the coun- 
try lying on both sides of the great North River, extending 
south to the South River, and north to the Fresh River." 
A Court of Justice should be erected in the province. A 
Burfiher burghcr govcmmcut, consisting of a schout, two burgomas- 
ment. tcrs, and five schepens, should be established in the "city 
of New Amsterdam." In the mean time, the Nine Men 
should continue three years longer, and should have limited 
judicial powers in small causes "between man and man." 
All inhabitants and immigrants should take " an oath of 
fidelity." Private ships, sailing from Holland to North 
America, should, according to their tonnage, be compelled 
to convey emigrants. And, finally, at least fifteen thousand 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 51g 

guilders should be expended every year by the " commis- chap. xv. 
sioners of New Netherland," in the Amsterdam Chamber, 
in the transportation of poor agi'icultural emigrants.* 

While, on the one hand, this Provisional Order did not ii Apni. 

The An*- 

fully meet the views of the delegates of the commonaltv, sterdam 

7 ji -x I 1 J.1 1 j_ • 1 • r. /chamber 

on the other it provoked the determnied resistance of the opposes tbe 

IT 1 • provisional 

Amsterdam Chamber. Its statements relative to Kieft's order, 
war were questioned. In regard to the Indian trade, the 
provincial government was obliged to furnish the savages 
sparingly with arms, "in order to prevent misunderstand- 
ing ;" and as to prices, the Indians would sometimes in 
the spring pay one hundred and twenty guilders for a gun, 
and ten or twelve for a pound of powder. The patroons of 
Rensselaerswyck should provide a clergyman for them- 
selves ; there was one already at New Amsterdam, and 
" none are required for the more distant places." It was 
improbable that the colonists could be induced to defray 
the public expenses volvmtarily, when they had already 
complained so much about the wine and beer excises. For 
the satisfaction of the colonists, however, two persons might 
be added to the council ; but they should be selected by 
the company from a triple nomination by the people. It 
would be unnecessary to recall Stuyvesant; the vice-di- 
rector could be sent for, if requisite. The Nine Men should 
have no more power ; the administration of justice in the 
province had better be left " as it then stood." Vessels go- 
ing thither would be required to carry as many passengers 
as their burden was rated in tons ; but it would be unjust 
to the creditors of the company if, in the exhausted state 
of their treasury, the directors should be bound to expend 
fifteen thousand guilders a year for the conveyance of em- 
igrants to New Netherland, 

Thus pertinaciously did the Amsterdam directors oppose 
the measures of improvement suggested at the Hague ; 
and the meagre modifications of the " Freedoms and Ex^ 
emptions" of 1629 and 1640, which they grudgingly pro- 24 May. 
posed, scarcely deserved the name of reforms. The Pro- 

* Hoi. Doc, v., 223-238 ; O'Call., ii., 132-137 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., i., 598, 599. 



516 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XV. visional Order itself was referred back to the committee, 
and was also communicated to the several Chambers of 
15 A rii ^^^® company. " AVe send you a copy of this resolution," 
{kmrto wrote the directors to Stuyvesant, " from which you may 
siuyve- learn what vexations we have suffered, and how full of 

uant. ' 

danger it is to irritate a furious multitude." 
Return of Leaving Van der Donck to prosecute in the Fatherland 
ven and ° the causc of the commonalty, Couwenhoven and Bout 
obtained letters from the States G-eneral forbidding Stuy- 
vesant to molest them ; and accompanied by Dirck van 
8 April. Schelluyne, who had received a commission to practice as 
a notary public in New Netherland, the two delegates set 
sail for New Amsterdam, canynig with them two hund- 
red stand of arms and a flag for the use of the burghers.* 
Ecciesias- The Classis of Amsterdam, anxious to promote the cause 
of education and religion in New Netherland, where Me- 
gapolensis was their solitary clergyman, now sent out "Will- 
lojanuary. iam Vcstcns, "a good, Grod-fearing man," as " Siecken- 
trooster," or consoler of the sick, and schoolmaster at Man- 
Domine hattan. Domine Wilhelmus Grasmeer, a son-in-law of 
April. Megapolensis, also set sail to take charge of the church 
at Beverwyck. Grasmeer, however, had been under the 
censure of the Classis of Alckmaer, and his departure for 
America without their approbation was considered disor- 
4 April. derly. The consistory of the church at New Amsterdam 
was, therefore, warned not to allow him to take any part 
in the administration of the Gospel, in case he should of- 
fer to do so, "until he should have made satisfaction to the 
Classis of Alckmaer."! 
Municipal The municipal affairs of the capital of New Netherland 
New Am- coutinucd to bc administered by the provincial govern- 
ment. Jan Cornelissen was employed to keep the com- 
schooi. mon school ; and an academy was contemplated. Con- 
tracts for land on Manhattan Island had now become so 
T Feb. frequent, that to guard against fraud, it was ordained that 
all sales of real estate should be void, unless approved by 

* IIol. Doc, v., 202-207, 211 -213, 239-259, 274, 276-296 ; AJb. Roc, iv., 29. 
t Cor. Classis Amsterdam. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 517 

the director and council. Bakers were required to make chap. xv. 
their bread of the "standard weisrht of the Fatherland," 
and to use "naught else than pure wheat and rye Hourj^^ „ " 
as it comes from the mill." The currency of the province 
was again regulated ; and " there being at present no other 30 May. 
specie," wampum was made lawfully current, at the rate 
of six white or three black beads of "commercial sewan," 
or of eight white and four black of the " base strung," 
for one stuyver. As men were now employed in repair- 
ing and restoring Fort Amsterdam, in obedience to the or- 
ders of the company, the inhabitants were warned not to 27 June, 
let their cattle run at large without a herdsman, "between 
the fort and the company's bouwery, and the pasture- 
ground occupied by Thomas Hall, and the house of Mr. 
Isaac Allerton."* 

On the return of Couwenhoven and Bout, the common- 28 June. 
alty learned the details of what had occurred in Holland, sanf-rcon- 
The States Greneral had not turned a deaf ear to the com- posluon u) 
plaints of the people of their province ; and though the form." ^^ 
Provisional Order was not yet ratified, it at least foreshad- 
owed reform. The Nine Men now requested the director 
to promulgate it officially ; but all he would do was to pro- 
claim the peace of Westphalia, in obedience to the orders 
of the States Greneral. The company, he said, was opposed 
to the Provisional Order, and he would not conform to an 
instrument which his immediate superiors disregarded. 

For two years, Stuyvesant's jealousy had prevented the Fresh dim- 
mustering of the burgher guard ; the same jealousy now 
refused them the stand of colors which the delegates had 
brought out from Holland. Even the arms which had 
been procured for their use were not delivered. Food, too, 
was scarce ; for the previous winter had been so cold "that 
the ink froze in the pen." In the midst of this famine, 
the director was obliged to send provisions to Curapoa, and 
victual the company's vessels. Van Dincklagen and the 
Nine Men protested against diminishing the scanty sup- 
plies of the province. The people were exasperated, and 15 August. 

* New Amst. Rec, i., 28-31, 33 ; ii. N. Y. H. S. Coll., ii., 331. 



518 HISTORY or THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

flHAP. XV. Stuyvesant added to the feeling by depriving the Nine 
Men of the pew in the church which the consistory had 

17 August, appropriated to their use. In writing to his superiors in 
Holland, the director accused the returned delegates of en- 
deavoring to draw away the people from their allegiance 
to the company and its officers. The English on Long 
Island, who the year before had expressed their confidence 
in Stuyvesant, again endorsed his administration. A let- 

«! August, ter, siorned by Baxter and the other magistrates at Grraves- 

Another ' n j o 

letter from end, was addrcsscd to the Amsterdam Chamber, " thank- 

Gravesend. 

fully acknowledging" the benefits which they had enjoyed 
under the rule of the company, " who are the rightful 
owners of this place." The delegates who had come back 
from Holland had given birth to " schisms, factions, and 
intestine commotions," which could be best prevented "by 
supporting and maintaining our present governor against 
those malignants, and by our superiors in Holland discred- 
iting the false reports of discontented persons." 

But, if the English settlers thus exhibited their syco- 
phancy to Stuyvesant and their devotion to the AVest In- 
dia Company, the " idea of popular freedom" among the 
13 Sept. Dutch commonalty could not be repressed. The Nine Men 

The Nine "^ ' 

Men write again appealed to the States Greneral, whom they had al- 
the States ready found to be their " affectionate fathers." No amend- 

General. •' 

ment had followed the interposition of the home govern- 
ment. "We can not," wrote the tribunes, "undertake 
any thing so long as reform is witlilield. We hope, there- 
fore, that your High Mightinesses will confer on us a good 
and wholesome government."* 

stuyvesant In this extraordinary position of affairs — his administra- 

ford. tion bitterly opposed by his own countrymen, and strenu- 
ously supported by the English residents — Stuyvesant pre- 
pared for the long-projected meeting with the commission- 

17 Sept. ors of the United Colonies. Embarking at Manhattan, ac- 
companied by Greorge Baxter, his English secretary, and 

ti Sept. a large suite, he touched at several of the settlements along 

* Hol. Doc, v., 272, 346, 354 ; vi., 25 ; ix., 234 ; Alb. Rec, iv., 43 ; O'Call., ii., 140-143 ; 
Bancroft, ii., 304. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 519 

the Sound, and in four days arrived at Hartford. The di- chap. xv. 
rector opened the negotiations by a letter, recapitulating ~~~" 
the considerations which had moved him to undertake his 33 sept. ' 
"troublesome journey." This communication, though JJo^^.'"* 
signed at Hartford, was dated " New Netherland." To 
this the commissioners took exception ; and Stuyvesant 24 sept. 
promptly explained that, as the substance of his letter had 
been agreed upon in council at Manhattan, it had been 
dated as it was ; if, however, the commissioners would for- 
bear calling Hartford " in New England," he would not 
date his letters as "in Connecticut in New Netherland." 

The commissioners declaring themselves satisfied, the 
negotiation proceeded. After a long correspondence, in 
which the points of controversy were reviewed and ex- 
plained in detail, it was agreed that "all differences" 28 Sept. 
should be referred to two delegates from each side, who 
should prepare satisfactory articles of agreement. On their 
part, the commissioners appointed Simon Bradstreet, of Arbitrators 
Massachusetts, and Thomas Prence, of Plymouth ; and ^^''°'" 
Stuyvesant, on his part, delegated Captain Thomas Willett 
and Ensign George Baxter.* 

" Upon a serious examination and consideration of the 
particulars committed to reference," the arbitrators deliv- 
ered their award. Judgment as to what had happened 29 Sept. 
during Kieft's administration was respited until Stuyve- treaty ar- 
sant could communicate w*ith his superiors in Plolland. In '^^^^'^ 
regard to the South River, both parties were left "in statu 
quo prius." Respecting the seizure of Westerhouse's ship. 
New Haven should acquiesce in Stuyvesant's explanations. 
Concerning bounds and limits, the arbitrators determined, 
"I. That upon Long Island, a line run from the western- Boundary 
most part of the Oyster Bay, so and in a straight and di- New Netu- 
rect line to the sea, shall be the bounds betwixt the En- New En- 
glish and Dutch there ; the easterly part to belong to the 
English, the westernmost part to the Dutch. II. The 
bounds upon the main to begin at the west side of Green- 
wich Bay, being about four miles from Stamford, and so 

* Hav^Td, ii., 154-170; i., N. Y. H. S. CoU., 210-234; Col. Rec. Conn., 184, 198, 199. 



520 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XV. to run a northerly line twenty miles up into the country, 
and after, as it shall be agreed by the two governments 
of the Dutch and of New Haven ; provided the said line 
come not within ten miles of Hudson's River. And it is 
agreed that the Dutch shall not, at any time hereafter, 
build any house or habitation within six miles of the said 

wreenwich. line. The inhabitants of G-reenwich to remain, till further 
consideration thereof be had, under the government of the 

Dutch pos- Dutch, ni. That the Dutch shall hold and enjoy all the 

Hartiord.' lands in Hartford that they are actually possessed of, 
known or set out by certain marks or bounds ; and all the 
remainder of the said land, on both sides Connecticut 
River, to be and remain to the English there. And it is 
agreed that the aforesaid bounds and limits, both upon the 
island and main, shall be observed and kept inviolate both 
by the English of the United Colonies and all the nation, 
without any encroachment or molestation, until a full and 
final determination be agreed upon in Europe by the mu- 
tual consent of the two states of England and Holland." 

Further It was also agrccd that the provision in the eighth article 
' of the New England confederation, for the surrender of 
runaway slaves and fugitives from justice, should be ob- 
served between the English of the United Colonies and the 
Dutch within the province of New Netherland. And the 
arbitrators finally suggested that the proposition of " a 
nearer union of friendship and amity" between the English 
and Dutch colonists in America should be recommended 
to the several jurisdictions of the United Colonies.* 

stu>-vesant Returning to Manhattan, after an ineffectual effort to 

Manhattan, arrange the proposed alliance with the United Colonies 

12 October. . . 

20 Nov. against the Indians, Stuyvesant reported the result of his 
negotiation to the Chamber at Amsterdam. But he omit- 
ted to send them a copy of the Hartford treaty ; and, five 
years afterward, the directors expressed their apprehension 
that the discussions with the commissioners had not re- 
sulted in a definite arrangement.! 

* Hazard, ii., 170-173; Hoi. Doc, viii., 124; i., N. Y. 11. S. Coll., 234-237, 301-303; 
TruinliuU, i., 191 ; O'Call., ii., 151 ; nancroft, ii., 295; a?itc, p. 362. 
t Alb. Rec, iv., 177, 198; Stuyvesant's Letters, 10-13. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 521 

Both the referees whom Stuy vesant had appointed at chap. xv 
Hartford were Englishmen. This was naturally felt as a ~ 
slight, and even an insult, by his own countrymen, who opppgi,,^,, 
now avowed their opposition to a treaty which they had mo'ifaity"to 
had no hand in framing. Complaints were sent to Hoi- ford"reatv. 
land that the director had surrendered more territory than ^^ ^'"^' 
might have formed fifty colonies ; and that he had ceased 
to consult with Vice-director Van Dincklagen and Fiscal 
Van Dyck, and had taken into his confidence an English- 
man who did not understand the Dutch language, and a 
Frenchman heavily in debt to the company. 

The Nine Men again brought the condition of the prov- 22 Dec. 
ince before the States Greneral. Stuyvesant had refused Men com- 
to select from their nominations to fill the vacancies about to the 
to occur in their board, which was thus threatened with General, 
dissolution. " The grievous and unsuitable" government 
of New Netherland should be reformed, and the measures 
recommended by the committee of their High Mightiness- 
es should be promptly adopted, " so that we may live as 
happy as our neighbors," wrote the representatives of the 
commonalty to the home government. All these docu- 
ments were sent to Van der Donck at the Hague.* 

In the mean time, the directors of the Amsterdam Cham- 
ber, deriding the pretension that Fort Orange, which had Preten- 

, 1 1 • 1 1 r sions of the 

been constructed and garrisoned "years beiore any men- proprieta- 
tion of Kensselaerswyck exists, was built upon the souRensse- 

1-1 •! -I • • -in laerswyck 

of that colonic, determined to use their " sovereign right rebuked by 
to the confusion of the ungrateful Van Twiller, who, they pany. 
declared, had "sucked his wealth from the breasts of the le Feb. 
company which he now abuses." Stuyvesant was accord- 
ingly instructed to repel by force any attempts to "vilify" 
his jurisdiction. Beeren Island, which the patroon's agents 
had " usurped in such a lofty way" that they named it 
"the place by right of arms," and levied a toll, was to The North 
be deprived of its artillery, should any be planted again, free. 
" Every one shall navigate this river unmolested, and en- 
joy a free trade at our Fort Orange, which these colonists 

* Hoi. Doc, vi., 4, 11, 15, 25-70 ; O'Call., ii., 155-157. 



528 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XV. pretend is constructed on their own territory," again wrote 

the directors to Stuyvesant.* 
Conflicting '^^^^ claims of the proprietaries of the colonic to the ter- 
Kaukiu" ritory about Katskill were also openly denied by the West 
24 May. j^dia Company ; under whose orders Stuy vesant prohibit- 
ed any settlements there by tenants claiming to hold under 
leases which had been already granted by the authorities 
15 June, of Renssclacrswyok. The colonial officers replied that they 
had only obeyed the instructions of their patroons ; and 
promising to refrain from taking any further steps to oc- 
cupy the disputed territory, they requested the director to 
suspend action on his part until the question could be set- 
tled in Holland. 
Domine Domiuc Grrasmcer, in open contempt of ecclesiastical 

Grasmeer. '^ _ * 

censure, had, meanwhile, arrived at Rensselaerswyck. 
The Classis of Alckmaer promptly suspended him from the 
ministry ; but he seems, nevertheless, to have preached 
with acceptance to the colonists, who were glad to have 
the services of an ordained clergyman, even though he was 
under the discipline of his clerical peers. The cause of 
education was not neglected ; the people earnestly entreat- 
ed the colonial officers to provide them with a proper school- 
\ master, and steps were taken to raise a fund for building a 
9 Sept. school-house. This was soon accomplished, and Andries 
ler. Jansen was appomted the first schoolmaster of Beverwyck. 

Temper of In the autumn, a Tappan savaa^e comin^ up to Fort Or- 
hawks. ange, reported that the Mohawks were meditatmg an at- 
tack upon the Dutch. "Ye Hollanders," said he, "have 
now been selling guns long enough to the Maquaas," who, 
he added, had been endeavoring to excite the Southern 
tribes to exterminate the isolated colonists as soon as the 
river should freeze, and assistance from Fort Amsterdam be 
almost impossible. The inhabitants were therefore called 
S3 Sept. together; and, after free consultation, the colonial author- 
ities appointed commissioners to proceed to the Mohawk 
country, with proper presents, and renew the friendship 
and alliance of the Dutch with the Iroquois. Labbatie, 

* Alb. Rec, iv., 26, 46, 49 ; ii., N. Y. H. S. Coll., i., 377, 378 ; ante, p. 304. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 523 

the company's commissary at Fort Orange, who had ac- chap. xv. 
oompanied Van Curler in 1642, was asked to repeat his 
visit with the new embassy. But Lahbatie, feeling him- 
self secure within his fortified post, declined. The colonial 2 October. 
delegates therefore proceeded alone on their mission ; and hassy to the 
friendship was secured with the Mohawks by the distribu- vaiiey. 
tion of presents to the value of nearly six hundred guilders. 
The main fountains of " mischief, trouble, and animosity" 
were the trading licenses, and the " bosch-loopers," or run- 
ners in the woods, known among the French as " coureurs 
de bois." This system of licenses, which had helped the xradmg n- 
patroon's revenue to the injury of the colonists, was now abofrsLd. 
formally abolished by a placard, with the full approbation 
of the people, who testified then' assent " in Fort Orange 
under their own hands."* 

Van der Donck, in the mean time, had remained a faith- van der 
ful representative of the commonalty of New Netherland van xien- 
in their Fatherland. Learning that Van Tienhoven was Holland. 
on the point of returning, "to exercise his vengeance" on 
the popular party, he obtained an order of the States G-en- 21 luiy. 
eral for the examination of the secretary upon fifty-nine 
specific points touching the misgovernraent of the province. 
A long report upon the subject was accordingly submitted 9 August. 
to their High Mightinesses, The letter of the thirteenth 
of September, in which the Nine Men renewed their de- 
mand for " a good and wholesome" government, was soon 
afterward received ; and the publication of the Remon- is Nov. 
strance of the commonalty attracted so much attention, 
that a formal defense of the West India Company's ad- 
ministration in New Netherland became necessary.! 

For this purpose, Van Tienhoven, after a year's delay, 29 Nov. 
drew up, and submitted to the States General " a brief hoven-lf^e 
statement," in answer to some of the points in the " Ver- Remon-" 
toogh." The secretary's reply was an able paper. It took New Netii- 
no notice of the charges against himself ; exhibited a suc- 
cinct and skillful defense of the company and its officers ; 

* Alb. Rec, viil., 318 ; Renss. MSS. ; O'Call., ii., 161-163, 185 ; Cor. Classis Amst. 
t Hoi. Doc, v., 310-325, 339-345, 354-357 ; ante, p. 512, 518. 



524 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XV and closcd by retorting upon the signers of the Remon- 

strance short descriptions of their individual characters, in 

■ terms meant to be by no means flattering.*' 

1651. Van der Donck, however, soon presented another me- 

14 January. j^^^l^^ to their High Mightinesses; and the Amsterdam 

1 1 March. Chamber was directed to send Van Tienhoven and his fa- 

Van Tien- . . _ -_ 

hovenor- ther-iu-law, Jan Jansen Dam, to the Hague for examma- 

dered to. lll ^ ^ ^ • ^ ^ 

come to the tion. 13ut the Secretary, who had employed mmselt dur- 

Hague. . . . , . . • 1 A 

mg the wmter in deceivmg a poor girl at Amsterdam, 
while his wife was yet living at Manhattan, was about to 
return, with the spring fleet, to New Netherland ; and the 
company, to mark their appreciation of his " long and 
faithful services," had renewed his appointment as provin- 
cial secretary, made him likewise their receiver general of 
revenue, and granted him a well-stocked farm. The di- 
21 April, rectors were now ordered to prevent Van Tienhoven's em- 
barkation until he should have reported himself at the 
28Apru. Hague. The secretary, obliged to obey, was arrested on 
reaching the seat of government, and was fined for adul- 
5 May. tciy. A wcck afterward, he managed to embark, in spite 
of the prohibition of the States General ; and, accompanied 
Van Tien- by his paramour, he returned to Manhattan, where the rich 
turns to cargo of a Portuguese prize, captured on the voyage, pro- 
criand. curcd for him an acquittal in the fruitless prosecution com- 
menced by his undeceived victim.! 
1650, Melyn, who had not failed to bring before the States 
Meiyrire- General Stuyvesant's "irreverent neglect" of their man- 
New Neth- damns, intrusting his undecided case to an attorney, avail- 
ed himself of the growing interest in New Netherland to 
induce Baron Hendrick van de Capellen, of Ryssel, one of 
the committee of the States General, and several Amster- 
dam merchants, to form an association for the colonization 
of Staten Island and its neighborhood. A ship called the 
18 May. " Ncw Nctherlaud's Fortune" was purchased, in which 
some twenty colonists, with proper farming implements, 

* Hol. Doc, v., .^eCMOl ; ii., N. Y. H. S. Coll., ii., 329-338. In O'Call., ii., 121-127, this 
paper i.s erroneously ante-dated as of the year 1648. 

t IIol. Doc., v., 401, 408, 410, 412, 413 ; vi., 6, 33-59, 246, 267-280; Alb. Rec., iv., 70; 
O'Call., ii., 168, 169. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 537 

namely, of people of divers nations, requires many things chap. xv. 
for the laying a foundation, for which there are no rules 
nor examples, and which must therefore be left to the dis- 
cretion of a well-experienced governor." A similar letter, 25 sept. 
certified by John Moore, their clergyman, was addressed Heemstede. 
to the Amsterdam Chamber by the English at Heem- 
stede.* 

With these testimonials in their favor, it was no won- 
der that the officers of the West India Company continued 
their opposition to the spirit of popular freedom among the 
Dutch colonists, and to the liberal movements of the States 
G-eneral. But Van der Donck still remained the faithful 
representative of the commonalty in their Fatherland ; 
where an enterprising bookseller at Amsterdam again drew Pubiica- 
public attention to the province, by issuing a pamphlet Holland, 
containing a descriptive account of the European settle- 
ments in America.! 

The Hartford treaty having left the interests of the Anew e.x- 
Dutch and the English on the South River " in statu quo," from New 

Haven to 

several inhabitants of New Haven and Totoket equipped a the .souiu 

' ^ River. 

vessel, in which fifty emigrants were dispatched to settle 
themselves upon some land which they claimed to have 
purchased there. On reaching Manhattan, two of the pas- March. 
sengers landed, and presented to Stuyvesant a letter of rec- 
ommendation from the governor of New Haven. The di- stuyvesant 

... defeats the 

rector, viewing this new expedition as a breach of the re- enterprise. 
cent treaty, committed them, as well as the master and 
two others of the company, "close prisoners under a guard" 
at the house of Martin Kregier, the captain lieutenant of 
New Amsterdam. There they remained in custody "till 
they were forced to engage under their hands not then to 
proceed on their voyage toward Delaware ;" and the de- 
feated expedition returned to New Haven. Stuyvesant at 

* IIol. Doc, vi., 5, 7, 53-60, 67, 68 ; ix., 240-248 ; O'Call., ii., 170-172. 

t " Beschryvinge van Virginia, Nieuw Nederlandt, Nieuw Engelandt," &c., Amster- 
datn, 1651. Joost Hartgers. This pamphlet is a mere compilation from De Laet, and 
from Van der Donck's Vertoogh ; and though it contained nothing new, its cheap form 
no doubt gave it a large circulation in Holland. Megapolensis' tract on the Mohawk In- 
dians was now also published by Hartgers for the first time, and, according to Van der 
Donck, without its author's knowledge or consent ; ante, p. 376, note. 



528 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XV. the Same time wrote to Eaton, threatening " force of arms 
and martial opposition, even to bloodshed," against all En- 

u April gli'^h intruders within southern New Netherland.=* 

In this new attempt of the English to gain a foothold 
on the South River, Stuyvesant perceived a covert purpose 
to dispossess the Dutch of all their American territory. 

Calls on He therefore called upon the authorities at Ilensselaers- 

Reiisse- 

laerswyck wvck for a suDsidv. But as the patroons had alone borne 

lor a sub- "^ .... , . 

sidy. all the expenses ol colonization, this demand of the pro- 
vincial government was felt to be unjust ; and Van f>lech- 
29 April, tenhorst went down to New Amsterdam to remonstrate. 
His representations were disregarded ; and the director, to 
punish him for his conduct with respect to the Katskill 
1 May. settlements, ordered his arrest. In spite of all his protests, 
tenhorst ar- and tlic repeated apj)lications of the colonial oihcers at 
Manhattan. Rcnsselaerswyck, Van Slechtenhorst was arbitrarily de- 
tained four months at Manhattan. t 
Views of The West India Comi)any had now become aware of the 

the West • ,. ■ • 1 1 

India Coin- neccssitv of arraniz:mg with the newly-crowned Queen of 

pany about '' .™ ..... 

the South Sweden the differences respecting iurisdiction on the South 

Rivor. . ^ , . 

21 March. Rivcr. In the mean time, they instructed Stuyvesant to 
" endeavor to maintain the rights of the company in all 
justice and equity," while they recommended him to con- 
duct himself with discretion and circumspection. The di- 
rector, therefore, resolved to make his long-projected visit to 
the South River, where his presence was again urgently 

Ju'y- desired. Upon his arrival at Fort Nassau, whither he was 

Stuyvesant ' 

on the Del- accompanied by Domine Grrasmeer and a large suite of 

aware. r .. ^ ^ 

officers, he communicated to Printz an abstract of the 
Dutch title. This was stated to rest on first European 
discovery and occupation, and actual purchase from the 
savages "many years before the Swedes arrived there." 
The Swedish governor was also requested to produce, on 
his part, proof of what lands his countrymen had pur- 
chased, and their authority to possess them. But Printz 
simply replied that the Swedish limits were " wide and 

* Hazard, ii., 192-193, 2G0 ; New Haven Records, 40 ; Trumbull, i., 196 ; Bozman, ii., 
486, 487. t Renss. MSS ; O'Call.. ii., 1(54, 173, 174. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 529 

broad enough ;" and exou.sed hini.^elf from producing his chap. xv. 
muniments of title, as they were in the chancellery at 
Stockholm. Wappang-zewan, one of the chief sachems, 
soon afterward informed the director that Printz was at 
this very time endeavoring to purchase from him the lands 
upon which the Swedes were settled. He had, however, 
refused to sell; and he now "presented" to Stuyvesant, Newacqut- 
in behalf of the West India Company, all the lands on the land, 
east and west shores ; commencing, on the eastern side, 
from Narratikon or Raccoon Creek, "and stretching down 
the river to Maetsingsing, and on the western side, from 
a certain creek, called Neckatoensing, to the westward 
along the river to Settoensoene, also called the Minquas' 
Kill, on which is the Swedish Fort Christina." 

Stuyvesant soon summoned all the Indian chiefs who conference 
lived near the river, and who claimed to own any lands savages. 
there, to attend a grand council at Fort Nassau, in the 
presence of the officers who had accompanied him from 
New Amsterdam. After a solemn conference, in which i9 July, 
the sachems declared that the Swedes had usurped all the 
land they claiined, except the precinct of Fort Christina 
itself, they confirmed to " the chief sachem of the Manhat- woreterh- 
tans," as a perpetual inheritance for the West India Com- chased. 
pany, the whole territory south of that fort to " Boomtje's" 
or Bombay Hook, " called by them Neuwsings." The 
conveyances were duly attested ; and the only conditions 
which the chief Pemmenatta imposed were, that the Dutch 
"should repair his gun when out of order," and give the 
Indians, when they required it, "a little maize." 

The director, thinking that Fort Nassau "was too far Fort Nas- 
up, and laid too far out of the way," now demolished the Llied.TnV 
post which the Dutch had first built on the Jersey shore, mir buut. 
twenty-eight years before, and erected a new fort, "called 
Casimir," on the west side of the river, at " Sand Hook," 
near the present site of New Castle, and about four miles 
below the Swedish Fort Christina. Against the building 
of this new fort Printz protested in vain ; and Stuyvesant, 
having completed his- object, prepared to return to M:\n- 



530 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XV. hattan. Previously to his departure, he had several inter- 
views with the Swedish srovernor, in which both ofhcera 
" mutually promised to cause no difficulties or hostility 
to each other, but to keep neighborly friendship and cor- 
respondence together, and act as friends and allies."* 

Foiled in their designs upon the South River, the New 
Haven people laid their case before the other colonies ; and 

24 May. the Massachusetts government remonstrated with Stuyve- 

sant. New Plymouth was also applied to for assistance ; 

5 June. but the " Old Colony" of New England "would have no 

hand in any such controversy." At their annual meeting, 

the subject was brought before the commissioners, who 

25 Sept. protested against the director's "hostile carriage," and de- 

clared the Dutch claim to the South River no better than 
that " which the English, upon as good grounds, can make 
Com- to the Manhatoes." Eventual assistance was also prom- 
New iia- ised to New Haven ; and information was asked from Ed- 
ward Winslow, who was then in London, " how any en- 
gagement by the colonies against the Dutch, upon the 
aforementioned occasion, will be resented by the Parlia- 
ment." Anxious to obtain a leader of courage asnd skill, 
the New Haven people made liberal offers to Captain John 
16 October. Mason ; but the General Court at Hartford opposed his 
removal from Connecticut, and so the project was again 
frustrated.! 

A change was now made in the provincial government 

on the North River. Labbatie was superseded, and Jo- 

Dyckman hanucs Dyckmau, a former clerk in the Amsterdam Cham- 

cominissa- bcr, wlio had come out with Van Tienhoven in the spring, 

Orange, as book-kcepcr at Fort Amsterdam, was promoted to be 

commissary and vice-director at Fort Orange. Van Slech- 

tenhorst, the patroon's commissary, who had remained un- 

* Alb. Rec, iv., 46 ; Hoi. Doc, viii., 32-50, 59-65, 07, 77 ; ante, p. 153, 511 ; S. Hazard, 
Ann. Penn., 122-127 ; O'Call., ii., 166, 167 ; Smitli's N. Y., i., 9 ; Ferris, 77, 78 ; AcrcliuR, 
412 ; Chalmers, 032 ; Bozman, ii., 481. The latter writer is misled by the errors of Chal- 
mers ami Acrelius. Stuyvesant's attendants, on the lOth of .July, when the Indians con- 
veyed their land, were Domine Grasmeer, Isaac AUerton, Cornelis de Potter, Captain 
Newton, Ensign Baxter, Isaac de Forcest, Captain Martin Kregier, and Surgeon Abra- 
ham Staats. 

t Plymouth Coll. Rec, iv., 234; Col. Rec Conn., 227; Hazard, i., 554; ii., 192-196 ; 
S. Hazard, Ann. Penn., 123, 127-133 ; Trumbull, i., 197-201. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. Sg.^ 

der arrest at Manhattan, finding Stuyvesant inexorable, at chap. sv 
length secreted himself on board a sloop, the schipper of 
which he was obliged to indemnify against future harm, September 
and returned to Beverwyck. The director, enraged at this t^^horaT*^ 
audacity, arrested the schipper on his return to Manhat- arrest^ and 
tan, and fined him two hundred and fifty guilders and geve?-^ '" 
costs for helping the escape of the unfortunate commis- ™^'^''' 
sary, who reckoned the whole expenses of his luckless visit 
to Fort Amsterdam at about a thousand guilders. 

One of Van Slechtenhorst's motives for breaking his ar- Proposed 
rest was his anxiety to cause an exploration of the Kats- of the Kats- 
kill Mountains. A daughter of one of the farmers at Kats- ains. 
kill had found a stone, "which some thought was silver;" 
and the proprietaries in Holland had directed an examin- 
ation of the country. Van Slechtenhorst, therefore, sent lo Sept. 
his son Gerrit to make a search. But a heavy rain set in 
£is soon as the young adventurer reached the patroon's 
newly-established bouwery. In three hours, the mount- 
ain torrent rose thirty feet ; the farm-house was swept 
into the kill, and all the cattle and horses would have per- 
ished, but for the exertions of Gferrit Van Slechtenhorst, 
" who was an excellent swimmer." The ruin which the Abandone* 
flood had caused diverted all thought of immediate explo-ofagreat 
rations ; and the hope of finding a silver mine in the Kats- 
kill Mountains was postponed. 

Fearful that the director would execute his threatened 
purpose of extending the jurisdiction of Fort Orange, Van 
Slechtenhorst now called upon all householders and free- 23 Nov. 
men of the colonic to take the " Burgherlyck oath of alle- 
giance." At the appointed day, the order was obeyed by 28 Nov. 
a number of the residents, who bound themselves " to main- take oath of 
tain and support, offensively and defensively, against every to the pa- . 
one, the right and jurisdiction of the colonic." Among the 
persons who took this oath was John Baptist van Rensse- 
laer, a younger half-brother of the patroon, and the first of 
the name who appears to have come to New Netherland.* 

* Renss. MSS. ; O'Call., ii., 174-177 ; Holgate's American Genealogy. > 



532 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



1652. 



CHAPTER XVI. 
1652-1653. 

Ch. XVI. The four years during which ^tuyvesant had adminis- 
tered the government of New Netherland were marked 
by arbitrary efforts to repress the spirit of popular free- 
dom which the Dutch emigrants brought with them from 
their Fatherland. In turn, the Nine Men, the vice-direct- 
or, the only notary in the province, and the patroon of 
Staten Island, were made to feel the displeasure of au- 
thority. Van Dyck, the schout-fiscal, who sided with the 
Nine Men, was early excluded from the council, and per- 
sonally insulted by his imperious chief. The fiscal, in- 
deed, had been complained of for leading " a disorderly 
life," and the Amsterdam Chamber had threatened to pun- 

W March, igh him. A pasquinade against the director, of which ho 
was assumed to be the author, was now made the occa- 

Fiscai Van sion of his removal from office by the council, whose ac- 

Dyck su- ^ 1 • 1 1 1 • 

perseded. tion was claimed to have been " by and w^ith the advice 
of the Nine Men." They, however, afterward declared 
that they had never assented to the resolution, which was 
Stuyvesant's own work, and that " the secretary had false- 
ly appended to it their names." Van Tienhoven was ac- 
cused by Van Dyck of having originated the lampoon 
to accomplish the displacement of an obnoxious official. 
Van Tien- Whatever may have been the truth in that respect. Van 
motcd. Tienhoven was promoted to be schout-fiscal ; Van Brugge, 
the former commissary at Fort Orange, was made provin- 
cial secretary ; and Adriaen Van Tienhoven, lately the 
clerk of the court on the South River, succeeded his broth- 
is sept. er as receiver general. Appealing to the States General, 
Van Dyck denounced his successor, in plain terms, as " a 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 530 

reproach to this country, and the main scourge of both ch. xvi. 
Christians and heathens, with whose sensualities the di- 
rector himself hath always been acquainted."* 

In the mean time, the question of iurisdiction at Fort Affairs at 
Orange remained unsettled, it Van blechtenhorst wasange. 
earnest in maintaining the rights of the patroon, Dyckman 
was no less so in support of the director ; and personal dif- 
ficulties now vexed the quiet hamlet of Beverwyck. Some i Januar>-. 
of the soldiers of Fort Oransre, out on a New Year's night Bever- 

, " " wyck. 

frolic, fired their matchlocks at the patroon's house ; and 
but for the exertions of its tenants, the thatched building 
would have been destroyed. Young Van Slechtenhorst 2 January, 
was assaulted in the street by some of the garrison the 
next day ; and Philip Pietersen Schuyler, who came to the 
rescue of his brother-in-law, was threatened by Dyckman 
with a drawn sword. The friends of Van Slechtenhorst 
vowed revenge ; and the commissary prudently ordered the 
guns of Fort Orange to be loaded with grape. 

Not long afterward, Dyckman, with a small retinue, 
went to the court-room where the magistrates of the colo- 8 February 
nie were sitting, to publish some placards which Stuyve- 
sant had sent up, relative to the iurisdiction of Fort Or- van siecb 

TT rii 1 1 • • 1 • teiihorst 

ano;e. Van Slechtenhorst, viewmsf the commissary s pro-opposea 

,. . , . II- • T^ 1 Dyckman. 

ceedings as insulting, ordered him to retire. Dyckman 24 Feb. 
again demanded that the obnoxious proclamations should 
be published with sound of bell ; but the colonial court re- 
fused, until they had received orders from the States Gren- 
eral and their own immediate superiors. The bell of Fort 
Orange was now rung three times ; and Dyckman, return- 
ing to the patroon's court-house, ascended the " stoep"t 
with his attendants, and ordered his deputy to read the proc- 
lamations. Van Slechtenhorst, however, snatching the in- 
struments out of the deputy's hands, again protested against 
the attempted infringement of the rights of his chief. 

The director promptly sent up another placard, declar- 5 Mair.n. 

* Hoi. Doc, vi., 193-276; Alb. Rec, iii., 264-268 ; iv., 74 ; O'Call., ii., 181, 182 ; ii., N. 
Y. H. S. Coll., ii., 306. 

t Anglic6, " the steps at the entrance of a house." The word " stoop" is still in famil- 
iar use among the descendants of our old Dutch families. 



$34 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Oiu. XVI. ing that the jurisdiction of Fort Orange extended a dis- 

tance of six hundred paces from its walls, and ordered 

r-dofama- I^yckmau to affix copies of it to posts, "marked with the 

ch'rf ^''is"' company's mark," to be erected on this new line, " north, 

Fon'or^ south, and west of the fortress." No house was thereafter 

''*«"• to be built within these limits, except by the permission 

of the director and council at Fort Amsterdam, or their 

agents at Fort Orange. But Van Slechtenhorst was not 

13 March, disposcd to submit. He had just purchased for his pa- 

troon two large additional tracts on the east side of the 

river ; one called " Paanpaack," including the site of the 

present city of Troy, and another further north, called 

19 March " Pauhooslc j" and he now ordered the constable of Bever- 

wyck to remove the posts which Dyckman had set up. A 

Protest of new protcst declared that the colonists of Rensselaerswyck 

Van Slech- n • • i i itt t t r-i 

tenhorst. had ucvcr sworn allegiance either to the West India Com- 
pany or to Stuyvesant, and that they recognized no mas- 
ters but the States Greneral and their own feudal superiors. 
21 March. Frcsh troublcs soon arose. Dyckman, attempting to ap- 
prehend a negress belonging to Alexander Grlen, one of the 
colonists, was opposed by her master, who was arrested the 
next day at Fort Orange. It was now rumored that the 
director himself was about to revisit Beverwyck, and that 
" a new gallows" was being prepared for the rebellious Van 
Slechtenhorst and his son, and Van Rensselaer. 
Stuyvesant Stuyvesaiit, wlio had been detained at Manhattan by 
FortVr- the proceedings against the fiscal, Van Dyck, soon after- 
*"^*' ward arrived at Fort Orange. The colonial officers were 
required to furnish a statement of the bounds of Rensse- 
laerswyck ; and were told that as the " Exemptions" al- 
lowed a colonic to extend sixteen miles on one side of a riv- 
er, or eight miles, if both banks were occupied, the direct- 
or would recognize the patroon's jurisdiction only to that 
extent. As the authorities of the colonic were without in- 
structions on this point, the question was postponed until 
they could communicate with their superiors in Holland. 
But Stuyvesant was not to be diverted from his purpose 
I April, with regard to Beverwyck. Sergeant Litschoe, with a 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 535 

party of soldiers, was sent to the patroon's house, and Van ch. xvi. 
Slechtenhorst was ordered to strike the colonial flag. Upon 
his refusal, "fourteen soldiers, armed with loaded muskets, Thep'a-" 
entered the inclosure, and, after firing a volley, hauled down ors°hauie°i 
the lord's colors." A few days afterward, a proclamation '^°""' 
was issued declaring Beverwyck to be independent of the 10 April. 
patroon's colonie, and establishing a Court of Justice in declared 
Fort Orange for the government of the hamlet. By this Fort br- 
act Stuyvesant completed his long-cherished design ; and 
the germ of the present city of Albany was released from 
feudal jurisdiction. 

Still, Van Slechtenhorst's loyalty to his immediate su- 
periors could not be shaken. The director's placard was 15 Apru. 
torn down, and a counter-proclamation, indicating the 
claims of the patroon, was posted in its stead. This bold 
proceeding filled the measure of Van Slechtenhorst's of- is April, 
fenses. He was arrested and imprisoned in Fort Orange, tenhorsi 
and afterward conveyed under guard to New Amsterdam, to New 

1 1 • n -1 1 1 1 <• 1 Amster- 

where he remamed until he was released for the purpose dam. 

Sept 

of installing his successor in office. 

Before leaving Rensselaerswyck, Stuyvesant confirmed 23 April. 
the authority of the West India Company by issuing pat- 
ents to several of the principal colonists for lots of land 
within the bounds of Beverwyck. John Baptist van Rens- 24 April. 

J. B. Van 

selaer took Van Slechtenhorst's place provisionally, and Rensselaer 
was soon afterward formally appointed director by the pa- 
troon. About the same time, G-errit Swart was commis-SMay. 
sioned as "officer or sohout," and furnished with instruc- swan 
tions, which required him " above all things to take care 
that divine worship shall be maintained in said colonie, 
conformably to the Reformed religion" of Holland.* 

These difficulties, and a desire to free themselves from 
subjection to the patroon, induced several inhabitants of 

* Alb. Rec, vi., 2 ; ix., 123 ; Fort Orange Rec, Mortgage Book A, Alb. Clerk's Office; 
Renss. MSS. ; Barnard's Sketch, 128-130 ; O'Call., 175-184, 207, 564-566, 587. Upon the 
reconquest of New York by the Dutch, in 1673, the West India Company admitted that 
Stuyvesant's proceedings in regard to Beverwyck were in violation of the charter of 
1629; and Governor Dongan, in 1686, deemed it prudent to require from the patroon of 
that day a formal release of his claims two days before the charter of the city of Albany 
was passed. 



536 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. xvl Rensselaerswyck to seek another abode. Between Kats- 
_ kill and Manhattan there were as yet few European inhab- 
Firstseuie-it^'^t^ j and Tliomas Chambers, who had occupied a farm 
^"couil^-'' '^^^f what is now the city of Troy, removing with some 
'''• of his neighbors to " Atkarkarton," or Esopus, an "exceed- 

ingly beautiful land," began the actual settlement of the 
present county of Ulster.* 

On his return to the seat of government, Stuyvesant, in 
order to check the growing disposition on the part of indi- 
viduals to monopolize large tracts of wild land for the pur- 
1 July. poses of speculation, issued new regulations on the sub- 
Reguia- ject. The sales by the Indians to Van Twiller and others 
purchases ou Long Island, to Van Slechtenhorst at Katskill and Clav- 
erack, and to Van de Capellen about Nevesinck, were de- 
clared void. The "pretended proprietors" were ordered to 
return the purchase-money ; if, however, they petitioned 
within six weeks, they might retain such tracts as the di- 
rector and council might assign them. All persons were 
forbidden to buy any lands from the natives without the 
previous consent of the director and council. This order 
was afterward modified by the Amsterdam Chamber in 
favor of the purchasers of lands near Katskill, Claverack, 
and Rensselaerswyck, to whom grants free from any feud- 
al "patronage" were to be issued in the name of the com- 
pany. 
New settle- Several additional settlements were now commenced on 
Long isi- Long Island, under patents from Stuyvesant. One of these, 
immediately east of Doughty's colonic at Mespath, was 
Middei- called by the Dutch "Middelburgh," but was more familiar- 
Newtown. ly knowii as Newtowu. Another in the " Vlackc Bosch," 
or Flatbush, between Breuckelen and Amersfoort, the prin- 
cipal patentees of which were Jan Snedekor, Arendt van 
Hattein, and Domine Megapolensis, was named by Stuy- 
Midwoutorvesant " Middelwout" or Midwout. The Indian title to 

Flatbush. 

these places was not, however, extinguished for several 
years ; and in the mean time, the settlers whose bouwer- 

- Mesapolensis to Cla.ssis, 5 Aug., 1657; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii., 107; O'Call., li., 357, 
394, 588 ; ante, p. 7G, 306 In 1672, Chambers became proprietor of the manor of Foxhall. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. Q3Q 

The expenses of the last year's expedition to the South ch. xvi. 
River now pressed so severely on the provincial exchequer 
that the director and council were obliged to postpone the 4 Aunist. 
payment of one half of the "just demands" against them.* 

In the mean time, Van der Donck had not ceased to urge 
on the attention of the States Greneral the complaints of 
the commonalty of New Netherland. Stuy vesant's Hart- 10 Feb. 
ford treaty, too, was severely censured in a long "Deduc- 
tion," prepared by the indefatigable agent. Too much had 
been surrendered. The Fresh River should have formed le Feb. 
the eastern boundary of New Netherland, and the whole Donck m 
of Long Island should have been retained. The Dutch censures 
trade was seriously injured ; for by the treaty New En- ford tro^ity. 
gland had obtained the control of the chief manufactories 
of wampum — the lawful currency of the province — and 
New Netherland must henceforth "eat oats from English 
hands." 

The States General now required again the opinions of le Feb. 
the several Chambers of the West India Company upon 
the proposed " Provisional Order." To gain more influ- 
ence at the Hague, the Amsterdam directors, in the mean 
time, had addressed a memorial to the burgomasters of 13 Feb. 
that city, detailing their views respecting the " disorders" 
in New Netherland. The municipal authorities, siding 
with the Chamber, instructed their deputies at the Hague 15 Feb. 
to support the directors, and defend their privileges against 
infringement. 

Emboldened by the support of the burgomasters of their 23 Feb. 
city, the Amsterdam directors replied to the States Gren- op°posit?on 
eral. They had already given an opinion adverse to the wsionai 
Provisional Order ; they were surprised that that plan 
should now be revived ; and they had hoped that their 
High Mightinesses would have disregarded the groundless 
complaints of "the pretended and disaffected delegates of 
a few evil-disposed persons in New Netherland." The 1 March. 
Zealand Chamber at Middelburgh was opposed to the mo- 
nopoly which the Amsterdam Chamber enjoyed. If the 

* Alb. Rec, iv., 73 ; vi., 8 ; S. Hazard's Ann. Penn., 133, 134. 



540 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



1652. 



2 March. 



6 March. 
8 March. 



4 April. 
Coiices- 
Bioiis to the 
colonists. 



4 April. 
Hurgher 
fioverii- 
ment to be 
established 
at Manhat- 
tan. 



Burgomas- 
ters and 
schepens. 



existing arrangement should be changed, it would assist 
in introducing reforms into New Netherland ; but at pres- 
ent it did not feel disposed to interfere. The Chamber at 
Dordrecht, which had already approved the Provisional Or- 
der, also thought that the trade to New Netherland should 
be shared by the several Chambers of the company ; should 
be open to private enterprise ; and that fifty thousand 
guilders should be advanced to promote emigration. In 
any settlement of boundaries, Long Island, " lying right 
in front of the coast," should continue a part of New Neth- 
erland. The Groningen Chamber, and the Chamber at 
Delft, expressed similar opinions.* The "Provisional Or- 
der" was popular every where but at Amsterdam. 

It was now evident to the directors of the " Presiding 
Chamber" that they must make concessions, or else lose 
all control over New Netherland. The " commonalty at 
Manhattan" was therefore informed that, to show their 
"good intentions," the Amsterdam directors had determ- 
ined to take the export duty off tobacco ; to reduce the 
price of passage to the province ; 'and to allow the colo- 
nists to procure negroes from Africa. At the same time, 
they communicated to Stuyvesant their assent to the es- 
tablishment of a "burgher government" in Manhattan; 
Avhich the Nine Men had demanded on behalf of the com- 
monalty in 1649, and which the Provisional Order of 1650 
had contemplated. The citizens were to be allowed to 
elect a schout, two burgomasters, and five schepens, " as 
much as possible according to the custom of" the metrop- 
olis of the Fatherland. These oflScers were to form a mu- 
nicipal court of justice, subject to the right of appeal to 
the Supreme Court of the province. In the election of 
these magistrates, " every attention must be paid," added 
the directors, " to honest and respectable individuals, who, 
we hope, can be found among the burghers ; and especial- 
ly do we wish that those promoted thereto be, as much as 
possible, persons of this nation, who, we suppose, will give 
the most satisfaction to the burghers and inhabitants." 



llol. Doc, vi., 1-66, 88-112 ; Alb. Rec, viii., 8-13. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 541 

The instructions for the schout or sheriff declared that ch. xvi. 

he should, "as the director-general and council's i^uardian ~7~~~r~ 

1652 
of the law in the district of the city of New Amsterdam, instmc- ' 

preserve, protect, and maintain, to the best of his knowl- c'i^y''sch'om^ 
edge and ability, the pre-eminences and immunities of the ^'„^^ter- 
privileged West India Company, in as far as these have'^*"'" 
been delegated by previous instruction to the board of 
Burgomasters and Schepens." He was to convoke and pre- 
side at the meetings of the city government. He was to 
prosecute all offenders against the laws of the city ; and 
take care that all judgments of the burgomasters and 
schepens, not appealed from, be executed " according to the 
style and custom of the Fatherland, and especially the city 
of Amsterdam." He was also to communicate, once ev- 
ery year, to the director general and council, all the pro- 
ceedings of the city fathers ; and to refer all cases within 
his knowledge, but not subject to his jurisdiction, to the 
schout-fisoal of the province.* 

Manhattan had now won the concession, to a great ex- 
tent, of the burgher government, for which her people had 
so long prayed. But there were other grievances in the 
province at large which required redress ; and the States 
(j-eneral ordered Stuyvesant to come immediately to Hoi- 27 April. 
land, and render an account of his administration, as well ceneraf rt 
as of his negotiations with the United Colonies of New En-vesant"^' 
gland. Van der Donck being about to return home, with 
a special privilege of making a testamentary disposition of 
his estate at Colendonck, the mandate of their High Might- 
inesses was intrusted to him ; and Stuyvesant was at the 
same time commanded to offer no molestation to Van 
Schelluyne in the practice of his profession as notary.! 

The recall of their director amazed the Amsterdam 27 Apni. 
Chamber, who wrote at once to Stuyvesant that this sudden tiieAmsTer- 
step of the States General was a violation of their charter, ber. 
and that he should not "be in too much haste to commence 
his voyage, but delay it until the receipt of further orders." 

* Alb. Rec, iv., 68-75; viii., 16-19, 29-44, 139-142; Doc. Hist. N. Y., i., 599-602; 
O'Call., ii., 187-192 ; Bancroft, ii., 305. t IIol. Doc, vi., 117-128 ; ante, p. 421. 



342! HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

c». XVI. Their secretary was also sent to the Hague to procure the 
~~~~~ revocation of the order; and the deputies from Amster- 
dam and several other members of the provincial states 
protested that the subject " ought to have been first pro- 
posed to the states of Holland." The States G-eneral, now 
on the eve of open hostilities with England, yielding to the 
16 May. forco of circumstanccs, revoked their recall, and ordered 

Stuvve- 

sant'sre- Van dcr Donck to deliver up their letter. The general 

call re- 

vokej. government had shown itself fully disposed to listen to the 
complaints of the people of New Netherland ; and, had 
not the presence of an experienced soldier been necessa- 
ry to protect their American province, Stuyvesant would 
scarcely have escaped his threatened humiliation. The 

27 May. Amsterdam Chamber gratefully thanked the States Gen- 

eral for their concession, and offered to give such full ex- 
planations as would render unnecessary the return of their 
director to Holland.* 

1650. The premature death of William H., prince of Orange, 
16 Nov. j^^^ j^£^ vacant the office of stadtholder, and the dignity 

remained in abeyance during the minority of William HI. 
This event, weakening the ascendency of the Orange par- 
ty in the Netherlands, led to the recognition of the En- 

1651. glish commonwealth by the Dutch Republic ; and Saint 

28 January, j^l^^^ and Strickland were dispatched to the Hague, to ne- 

gotiate a league of amity and confederation between the 
two nations. Some of the visionary enthusiasts in Par- 
Proposed liamcnt even entertained designs of making the " two sov- 
tween En- crcign statcs ouc," to be governed by a council sitting at 
the Nether- London, composed of Dutchmen and Englishmen. To ef- 
feet this object, the embassy was mstructed to use the 
most adroit diplomacy. The ambassadors, however, de- 
manding, as a preliminary, that the English fugitives 
should be expelled from Holland, the Dutch government 
determined not to interfere in any way between Cromwell 
and the Royalist party ; and the English negotiators were 
openly insulted by the populace, whose attachment to the 
house of Orange would not tolerate the presence of the 

* IIol. Doc, vi., 130-140, 153, 156; Alb. Rec, iv., 63-«8; viii., 45-49; O'Call., ii., 194. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 543 

" executioners" of the unhappy grandfather of "William ch. xvi. 
Ill * 

On his return to England, Saint John gratified his re- g juiy. 
venge by devising a measure whereby he hoped the com- j^afousy of 
mercial ascendency of the Dutch might be destroyed. ^^^ ^"^'^''' 
Grrotius, one of the most glorious of the sons of Holland, 
had been the first to proclaim the doctrine that " free ships 
make free goods," and had boldly appealed to the judg- 
ment of the world against the maritime restrictions " which 
humanity denounced as contrary to the principles of social 
intercourse ; which justice derided as infringing the clear- 
est natural rights ; which enterprise rejected as a mon- 
strous usurpation of the ocean and the winds." The coun- 
try of Grrotius, though her colonial policy was apparently 
paradoxical, had herself become great by practicing the 
doctrines which Grrotius had so eloquently announced. 
The commerce of Holland covered every sea ov6r which 
the navy of Holland rode in triumph. In Asia, in Africa, 
in America, the tricolor of the United Provinces floated 
over the Dutch colonial outposts. England saw and felt 
her inferiority ; already her ships began to lie idle at her 
quays, and her mariners to seek employment in the ves- 
sels of the Dutch. The celebrated "Act of Navigation" 
was, therefore, carried through Parliament ; and the ser- 9 October 
geant-at-arms was ordered to proclaim it at the old Lon-"Actof 
don Exchange, "with sound of trumpet and beat of drum." tion." 
This act decreed that no productions of Asia, Africa, or 
America should be brought to England, except in English 
vessels manned by English crews ; and that no produc- 
tions of Europe should be brought to England, unless in 
English vessels, or in those of the country in which the im- 
ported cargoes were produced. This step was accompa- 
nied by the issue of letters of reprisal to such persons as 
considered themselves aggrieved by the Dutch.! 

The States G-eneral dispatched ambassadors to London 20 Dec. 

* Aitzema, iii., 638-663 ; Thurloe's State Papers, i., 174, 179, 182, 183, 187-195 ; Verbael 
van Beverning, 61, 62; ante, p. 499. 

t Commons' Journal, vii., 27 ; Anderson, ii., 415,416; Lingard, xi., 127, 128 ; Bancroft, 
i., 215, 216 ; Davies, ii.. 707-710. 



544 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XVI. to protest against these hostile measures, and at the same 
time gave orders for the equipment of a fleet of one hund- 
Protest of ^'^^ ^^'^ fi% ships of War. The ambassadors were also 
the Dutch, instructed to propose a treaty, which, among other things, 
should provide for a free trade to the West Indies and Vir- 
ginia, and for the settlement of the boundaries between 
the Dutch and English colonies in America. Schaep, one 
of the ambassadors, who had been sent to London the year 
before as the special agent of the province of Holland, had 
been then empowered to propose the arrangement of a 
boundary between New Netherland and New England. 
1652. The proposition was now made by the ambassadors in 
Treaty pro- fomi ; and the eleventh and twelfth articles in the draft 
'***^'^'* of the treaty which they submitted to the English Coun- 
cil of State, provided that Dutch and English subjects, not- 
withstanding any recent prohibitions, might freely sail and 
trade to the Carribee Islands and to Virginia as they had 
before done; and that "to maintain good friendship, peace, 
and neighborhood between both of the aforesaid nations 
on the continent of North America, a just, certain, and 
immovable boundary line there shall be settled and de- 
termined as soon as possible."* 
25 M.irch. Neither of these propositions was acceptable to the Coun- 
n^goiia-" oil of State. They replied that the English had always 
been forbidden to trade with any of the Dutch colonies, 
and that they should now acquiesce in that policy ; and, 
on the other hand, as the Dutch were excluded from trad- 
ing to any of the English plantations by the recent Navi- 
gation Act, from that measure the council did not "deem 
it fitting to recede." In regard to the colonial boundary 
question, the English had been the " first planters" of 
North America, from Virginia to Newfoundland ; and noi 
kn(nving any plantations of the Dutch there, "save a smaD 
number up in Hudson's River," they did not think it neo 
essary " at present to settle the limits, which may be dont 
5 May hereafter in a convenient time." In the correspondence 
that followed, the English defended their restrictive colo- 

" Alb. Rcc, iv., 35 ; IIol. Uoc, v., 419; vi., 184 ; Aitzema, iii., 694-699. 



I 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL, 54^5 

nial policy on the ground of retaliation ; but suggested Ch. xm 
that, if the Dutch would propose to establish a mutual 
freedom of trade, their proposition would be respectfully 
considered. Unfortunately, the States Greneral were not 
now in a position to incorporate a principle so congenial to 
the national sentiment of the TJnited Provinces into the 
policy of the world. They had unwisely hampered them- 
selves with two enormous commercial monopolies, to which 
they had intrusted the government of their colonies ; and 
the influence of these two companies was fatal to any prop- 
osition for the emancipation of colonial commerce. The 
Dutch ambassadors were not instructed to offer to the En- 
glish a reciprocal free trade to New Netherland, for New 
Netherland was in the hands of the West India Company. 
It was not surprising, therefore, that the negotiations at 
London were fruitless. The ambassadors soon received 13 May. 
instructions from Holland to defer the consideration of a 
boundary line in America until a more fitting time.* The 
States G-eneral had not yet ratified Stuyvesant's treaty at 
Hartford ; and they did not, in fact, ratify it until several 
years afterward.! 

A naval war, which had been brewing so long, at last Navai war 
broke out between England and the United Provinces, the Dut.-js 
Holland ships were arrested, without warning, in English giish 
ports, and their crews impressed. The Dutch fleet had 
been intrusted to the command of Martin Harpertsen 
Tromp,$ with instructions from the Admiralty to protect 
Dutch vessels from visitation or search by foreign cruisers ; 
and not to strike his flag to English ships of war. In a 
few days Tromp encountered the British fleet, under Blake, 29 May. 
in the Straits of Dover, and a bloody but indecisive battle 
followed. All hopes of peace were now at an end. Par- 
liament was resolved on war, and the Dutch ambassadors 
soon afterward left England. A series of brilliant naval it juiy 

* Aitzema, iii., 701-710 ; Hoi. Doc, vi., 136, 138. 

t Hoi. Doc, viii., 124 ; i., N. Y. H. S. Coll., i., p. 301 ; ante, p. 520 ; post, p. 621. 

t It is strange tliat so many English and American writers insist upon prefixing a su- 
perfluous " Van" to Tromp's name. Bancroft and Davies are among the few who avoid 
the vulgar error. The name of the Dutch admiral was no more Van Tromp than that of 
the English admiral was Van Blake. 

M M 



546 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XVI. engagements followed, in which Tromp and De Ruyter, 

and Blake and Ayscue, all gained immortal laurels. The 
1659 ... 

10 Dec "^ ^^^^ year of hostilities closed with a victory which forced 

Blake to take refuge in the Thames ; and Tromp placed a 
broom at his mast-head, in token that he had swept the 
channel free of all English ships.* 
Precau- TliG Statcs General did not neglect the precautions 

States Gen- which a state of war demanded. The Admiralty was di- 
17 July, rected to send a swift-sailing frigate to New Netherland 
and the "West Indies, with instructions to the provincial 
22 July, governors. Stuyvesant was also instructed to keep a care- 
ful watch, in the present condition of affairs with England, 
and to employ no person in the public service of whose 
loyalty and devotion to the Fatherland he was not assured. 
The views of the West India Company were also desired 
respecting the best mode of protecting their American pos- 
30 July, sessions. The company recommended that five or six frig- 
ates should be sent to New Netherland, to harass British 
commerce on the coast and in the West Indies ; but that, 
as the English colonists on the continent were very strong, 
it would be impolitic to attempt any thing against them.t 
9 August. The directors, at the same time, wrote to Stuyvesant, 
the Am- "Although wc do not doubt but that you have agreed 
chamberto with tliosc of Ncw England about limits, in conformity 

Stuyve- . , . . , , . , . 

sant. With our mteutions, or have entered into a more clost^ union 
and harmonious compact with thein as once before, so that 
we have nothing to fear from New England ; neverthe- 
less, we consider it an imperious duty to recommend you 
to arm and discipline all freemen, soldiers, and sailors ; to 
appoint officers and places of rendezvous ; to supply them 
with ammunition ; and to inspect the fortifications at New 
Amsterdam, Fort Orange, and Fort Casimir. To this end, 
we send you, for your protection, a fresh supply of ammu- 
nition." * * * " We warn you," they added, " not to 
place an unbounded confidence in our English inhabitants, 
but to keep a watchful eye on them, so that you may not 

* Ailxcma, iii., 711, 713, 764, 761 ; Tluirloe, i., 205-212 ; Basnagc, i., 251-261 ; Davieg, 
ii., 713 ; Hume ; LiiiRanl, xi., 128-134 ; Bancrott, i., 217. 
t IIol. Doc, vi., 163, 165, 166, IGO, 170-178. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 547 

be deceived, through their sinister machinations, by a show ch. xvi. 

of service, as we have been before deceived. If it should 

1652 
happen, which we will not yet suppose, that those New 

Englanders incline to take a part in these broils, and in- 
jure our good inhabitants, then we should advise your Engage- 
honor to engage the Indians in your cause, who, we are mans ad" 
informed, are not partial to the English. You will further ^'^"^ ' 
employ all such means of defense as prudence may require 
for your security, taking care that the merchants and in- 
habitants convey their valuable property within the forts. 
Treat them kindly, so that they may be encouraged to re- 
main there, and to give up the thought of returning to Hol- 
land, which would cause the depopulation of the country. 
It is advisable, therefore, to inclose the villages, at least 
the principal and most opulent, with breast- works and pal- 
lisades, to prevent surprise."* 

The " fast-sailing galliot" by which this letter and the 
promised supplies were dispatched was captured by the 
English. The States Greneral again admonished the West 3 sept. 
India Company to put their province in a proper state of stmctions. 
defense. Another vessel was, therefore, fitted out, and a 
duplicate of the intercepted dispatch was forwarded. The 
directors, at the same time, wrote to Stuyvesant to be care- 13 Dec. 
fully on his guard against the "artful wiles" of his territo- 
rial neighbors, and to avoid, if possible, any broils with the 
people of New England. All honest means were to be used 
to cultivate friendship with them, and also to promote 
commerce, chiefly with the Virginians, by which means 
" must the Manhattans prosper," her population increase, 
and her trade and navigation flourish. " For when these Maritime 
once become permanently established — when the ships of of Mrnhat- 
New Netherland ride on every part of the ocean — then dieted." 
numbers, now looking to that coast with eager eyes, will 
be allured to embark for your island." Such was the 
prophecy which the merchants of Amsterdam addressed 
to the merchants of Manhattan two centuries ago.t 

* Alb. Rec, iv., 83, 84. 

t Hoi. Doc, vi., 190, 192 ; Alb. Rec, iv., 87, 91 ; O'Call., ii., 205, 206 ; Bancroft, ii., 294 



548 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XVI. When that prophecy was uttered, New Amsterdam was 
yet a small village, with a population of seven or eight 
Actual hundred souls. Belonging, in fee, to the West India Com- 
of Manhat- P^^J' ^^^ municipal affairs had always been administered 
"^"- by the director and council of the province. That admin- 

istration, however, had never been advantageous, either to 
the company or to the colonists ; and from the beginning 
of Stuyvesant's government, scarcely one new bouwery 
had been planted on the island.* 

The time had now come when its inhabitants were to 
be invested with the civic powers which the Amsterdam 
Chamber had so unwillingly conceded to their earnest pray- 
orgaiiiza- ers. Its municipal government was to resemble "as much 
prstmunic- as possible" that of Old Amsterdam ; nevertheless, the fran- 
ernment of chises which the citizens of New Amsterdam actually ob- 
sterdam. tained were far less extensive than those which the burgh- 
ers of the parent city enjoyed. The director general re- 
tained in his own hands the appointment of burgomasters 
md schepens, and insisted upon the right of the ])rovincial 
government "to make ordinances or publish particular in- 
terdicts even for New Amsterdam." The citizens wert 
not allowed to elect their own schout ; the city govern- 
ment did not choose its own clerk. The ungraceful con- 
cessions of the grudging Chamber were hampered by the 
most illiberal interpretation which their provincial repre- 
sentative could devise. 
1653. Stuyvesant accordingly issued a proclamation on the 
^^^^' feast of Candlemas, appointing Arendt van Hattem and 
Martin Kregier, burgomasters, and Paulus Leendertsen 
tersand van dcr Grist, Maximilian van Gheel, Allard Anthony, 
Willem Beeckman, and Pieter Wolfertscn van Couwenho- 
ven, schepens of the city of New Amsterdam. Cornelis 
Schout and van Tienhovcu, the company's fiscal, was made schout of 
the city, and Jacob Kip was appointed secretary to the 
6 Feb. municipal government. A few days afterward, the bur- 
gomasters and schepens met together, and gave notice that 
they would hold their ordinary meetings every Monday 

* Hoi. Doc, vi., 227 ; xi., 213. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 549 

morning at nine o'clock, " in the building hitherto called ch. xvi. 
the City Tavern, and now named the Stadt Huys or City 
Hall." Stuyvesant, whose attention had been so much pj^st 'raJet- 
given to the municipal affairs of the capital, often attended munkip'iri 
these meetings in person. Record hooks were then com- mmt!^' 
menced ; and a solemn form of prayer was adopted, with 
which the proceedings of the court were to be opened. 
The island of Manhattan had at last formally become the 
city of New Amsterdam.* 

The organization of the municipal government of New critical 
Amsterdam took place at the most important crisis which New Netu- 

erland. 

the Dutch province had yet seen. Holland and England 
were now at open war. The Puritan colonies, sympathiz- 
ing with Parliament, longed to make New Netherland a 
trophy of the strife, and to extend the English power from* 
Stamford to the Chesapeake. Stuyvesant, foreseeing his 26 Feb. 
danger, wrote to the several governments of Virginia and New En- 
New England, expressing the friendly feelings both of the Virginia. 
West India Company and of the authorities of New Neth- 
erland, and proposing that the commercial intercourse be- 
tween the Dutch and English colonies should continue on 
its former peaceful footing, notwithstanding the hostilities 
between their mother countries. At the same time, he did 
not neglect proper military precautions at home. He com- 13 March. 
municated to a ioint meeting of the provincial council, and tionsfortbe 

11 /■ TVT « 11 defense of 

of the burgomasters and schepens 01 New Amsterdam, the the city, 
dispatches from the West India Company ; and also inform- 
ed them of the military preparations which were now in 
progress in New England. The meeting promptly resolv- 
ed that "the whole body of citizens" should mount guard 
every night ; that Fort Amsterdam should be repaired ; 
and as it was not large enough to contain all the inhab- Uitcu and 
itants, that the city should be enclosed, from the East to 
the North River, by a ditch and palisades with a breast- 
work. Schipper Visscher was directed to keep his sails 

* Alb. Rec, vi., 54, 60 ; New Amsterdam Records, i., 105-107, 109 ; O'Call., ii., 213 ; 
Valentine's Manual for 1850, 538, where the form of prayer is inserted at length. The 
Records of the city of New Yorli, commencing with this date, are still preserved in good 
condition. See note Q, Appendix. 



550 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



Ch. XVI. 



1653. 

First public 

debt of tlie 

city. 

15 March. 

17 March. 



Fast day. 

2S May. 
Fort Or- 
ange and 
Bever- 
wyck. 

State of 
feeling in 
New En- 
gland. 



89 April. 
Meeting of 
the New 
England 
commis- 
Mioners. 



always ready, and "his gun loaded day and night." To 
defray all these expenses, the city government proposed to 
raise about six thousand guilders, by a loan from the prin- 
cipal citizens, to be repaid by a tax upon the commonalty. 
In two days, upward of five thousand guilders were sub- 
scribed. pA contract was made with Thomas Baxter to 
provide palisades twelve feet high and eighteen inches in 
girth; and the inhabitants, "without one exception," were 
required to work at the fortifications, under penalty of fine, 
loss of citizenship, and banishment. Nor did the people 
forget, in the time of their trouble, to call upon the Al- 
mighty for aid ; and the ninth of April was ordered to be 
observed as a day of fasting and prayer throughout the 
province. The inhabitants at Beverwyck and Fort Orange 
were likewise directed to assist those of Rensselaerswyck 
in putting the redoubt and other defenses in good repair.* 

These precautions were by no means untimely. Uncas, 
the Mohegan ally of the English, had spread a report that 
Stuyvesant had been plotting to excite the Narragansetts 
against the New England colonies ; and nine sachems, 
who lived " about the Manhatoes," sent messengers to 
Stamford toward the end of March, affirming that, about 
a month before, the Dutch governor " did earnestly solicit 
the Indians in those parts to kill all the English, but they 
all refused to be hired by him, for that the English had 
done them no harm." 

An extraordinary meeting of the commissioners of the 
United Colonies was accordingly held at Boston in the end 
of April. Previously to the meeting, two messengers had 
been sent by the council of Massachusetts to interrogate 
Ninigret, Pessacus, and Mixam, three of the Narragansett 
chiefs, as to Stuyvesant's conduct. But the sachems' an- 
swers disproved the alleged plot. " I found no such en- 
tertainment from the Dutch governor when I was there," 
said Ninigret, "to stir me up to such a league against the 
English, my friends. It was winter time, and I stood a 



* Alb. Rec, vi., 5»-78 ; ix., 57 ; New Amst. Rec, i., 150-153, 164, 182 ; O'Call., ii., 215 ; 
Valentine's Manual for 185U, 450. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 55I 

great part of a winter's day knocking at the governor's ch. xvi. 
door ; and he would neither open it, nor suffer others to 
open it, to let me in ; I was not wont to find such carriage 
from the English, my friends." k5aid Mixam : " I know 
of no such plot that is intended or plotted by the Dutch 
governor against the English, my friends." And Pessacus 
replied, " that for the governor of the Dutch, we are loth 
to invent any falsehood of him, though we be far off from 
him, to please the English, or any other that bring these 
reports." 

The commissioners were still suspicious and unsatisfied. 
A long " declaration" was therefore drawn up, reviewing 
the complaints which the New England colonies had re- 
iterated for thirteen years, and embodying the new charges charges 

iT-wii'i 11 • f against the 

aganist the Dutch which rested upon the testimony of Dutch. 
" the Indians, who know not God, but worship and walk 
after the prince of the power of the air, serving their lusts, 
hateful, and hating one another." Upon the reading of 
this, the commissioners, " being exercised with difi'erent 
apprehensions," called upon the Massachusetts council, 
" with the neighboring elders," for advice. Their advice 
was, that it best became those " professing to walk in the 
Grospel of peace, having to do with a people pretending to 
the same profession," to give the Dutch governor an oppor- 
tunity to answer for himself. 

Stuyvesant, however, did not wait for the action of the stuyve- 
commissioners. Hearing of the charges against him, he duct, 
wrote at once to the governors of New Haven and Massa- " 
chusetts, denying the plot, and offering to come or send to 
Boston to clear himself, or desiring that delegates might 
be sent to Manhattan "to consider and examine what may 
be charged, and his answers." The commissioners accord- Agents to 

visit Now 

ingly appointed Francis Newman, a magistrate of New Nether- 
Haven, and Captain John Leverett, and Lieutenant Will- 
iam Davis, of Boston, to visit New Netherland. The agents 
were instructed specifically as to their duties in procuring 
testimony, and intelligence from Europe or Virginia, and 
were also furnished with letters which Underbill had writ- 



552 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XVI. ten to the commissioners, according to the tenor of which 

~_ they conceived that "himself and the English at Hemp- 

stede will produce such evidence as the case requires." A 
1-2 May. letter to Stuyvesant, at the same time, embodied their long 
" declaration" of complaints, and demanded " speedy and 
just satisfaction for all former grievances, and due secu- 
prepara- rity for the future." The commissioners likewise made 
war. preparations, in case " Grod call the colonies to make war 
asainst the Dutch." Five hundred men, " for the first ex- 
pedition," were to be proportionally raised out of the four 
jurisdictions; and Captain Leverett was judiciously chosen 
commander-in-chief, " with respect to the opportunity he 
now hath to view and observe the situation and fortifica- 
tion at the Manhatoes." 
22 May. The Ncw England agents, on reaching New Amsterdam^ 

the English were lodged at "the Basse's house in Manhatoes." They 



agents at 



New Am- at ouce proposcd to choose " some convenient place, within 
the United Colonies of New England," for iStuyvosant to 
produce evidence to clear himself from the charges against 
him. This proposition the director declined. The agents 

2.-) May. then asked that the place might be at Flushing or Heem- 
stede ; that they should have full power to call such to 
testify as they might think meet; that the magistrates 
there should be obliged to administer oaths to the witness- 
es ; and that no person should be molested for the testi- 

Aiisvver of mouv hc might give. To these exactions Stuyvesant and 

the Dutch , . "^ ., , ,i • ,^ ,^ .i j , ^i 

to their de- his council, "together with those that represent the partic- 
ular courts of justice in the colonies of New Netherland," 
avowing themselves " guiltless of any plot, either offensive 
or defensive, against the English nation," readily assented, 
upon condition that the proposed examinations should be 
held in the presence of three persons, to be associated with 
the New England commission, namely, La Montague, the 
first counselor in New Netherland, David Provoost, and 
Govert Loockermans, " which all jointly in some measure 
understand the Dutch, English, and Indian speeches." If 
any person should be found " that would stand to the ac- 
cusation," he might be examined, and might also, "accord- 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 555 

charges against the New Netherland authorities. The ch. xvi. 

hearsay stories of several Indians were eafferlv recorded. 

1653 
A conversation at Underhill's house, in Flushing, with 20 May. 

the wife of Van der Donck, who said that "the Maquaas 
are ready to assist the Dutch if the English fall upon 
them," and with Doughty, her father, who "said that he 
knew more than he durst speak," was carefully noted. 
Several depositions of disaffected Englishmen at Heem- Testimony 
stede and Middelburgh were secured. The only point real- Long isi- 
ly ascertained upon which to found the charge of a plot 
was that Stuyvesant had told Robert Coe, one of the Mid- 
delburgh magistrates, that " if the English came against 
him, he had spoken to Indians to help him against the 
English." William Alford also swore that Stuyvesant had 
told him "he had no hand in any such plot ; but confess- 
ed that in case any English should come against him, then 
he would strengthen himself with the Indians as much as 
he could." This was all that the agents succeeded in 
proving. These declarations were made by Stuyvesant 
without any mystery or purpose of concealment. They 
were merely the announcement of his intention to obey the 
instructions of the Amsterdam directors, who had, as we 
have seen, written to him the previous August, that, in 
case the New Englanders inclined "to take a part in these 
broils, and injure our good inhabitants, then we should ad- 
vise your honor to engage the Indians in your cause." The 
Puritan colonists had themselves set the example of em- 
ploying Indian allies in the Pequod war ; and the policy 
which New England originated continued, until the end 
of the American Revolution, a repulsive feature in the 
British colonial administration.* 

Meanwhile, Underbill had been agitating a revolt on underhurs 
Long Island. His unstable nature longed for change ; and ness. 
the moment seemed propitious to betray the friends who 
had sheltered and honored him when humiliated by the 
ecclesiastical discipline of Massachusetts. At the instiga- 
tion of Eaton and the agents of New England, he had 

* Hazard, ii., 203-267 ; Alb. Rec, iv., 83 ; North Am. Rev., viii., 96-105 ; ante, p. 547. 



556 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

< H XVI. busied himself in collecting the testimony which he had 
~^ promised the commissioners, and had openly charged the 
■ fiscal, Van Tienhoven, with plotting again.st the English, 
rnderhiii He was, therefore, arrested at Flushing, and conveyed to 
New Amsterdam under guard. After a short detention, 
he was dismissed without trial. Returning to Long Isl- 
and, he committed open treason against his adopted coun- 
try by hoisting " the Parliaments' colors" at Heemstede 
•20 May. and Flushing, and crowned liis treachery by issuing a se- 

Scditious . I r TVT \ 1 

proceed- ditious address to the commonalty oi JNew Amsterdam, set- 
jieemstede tius: fortli the rcasous which had impelled the insurgents 

and Flush- °.,. ,... ct-, o 

ing. "to abjure the miquitous government oi reter btuyvesant 

over the inhabitants living and residing on Long Island, 
in America." After enumerating the specific wrongs, 
which he declared were " too grievous for any brave En- 
glishman and good Christian to tolerate any longer," he 
exliorted " all honest hearts, that seek the glory of God and 
their own peace and prosperity, to throw off" this tyran- 
nical yoke." " Accept and submit ye then to the Parlia- 
ment of England," concluded this bold address, " and be- 
ware ye of becoming traitors to one another, for the sake 
of your own quiet and welfare."* 

But Underbill's mutinous appeal fell upon unwilling 
ears. The loyalty of the Dutch to their Fatherland was 
proof against all treasonable placards ; and though they 
had themselves felt the pressure of Stuyvesant's arbitrary 
rule, they could not think of abjuring their allegiance to 
the States General, to become subjects of the Parliament 

Lndcrhiii of England. Upon the departure of the New Ens^land 

banished. tt i i ii i i • i ■ 

27 May. agcuts. Underbill was ordered to quit the province. Fly- 
ing to Rhode Island, he addressed a letter to the comrnis- 

2 June. sioners at Boston, offering his services and loyalty, as h<j 
was, like Jcphthah, "forced to lay his life in his hands," 
to save English blood from destruction. To this end he 
had " requested our neighbors of Rhode Island to afford 
sorne small assistance." This " assistance" was granted 

* Alb. Rec, iv., 121 ; IIol. Doc, ix., 227 ; Hazard, ii., 223 ; Hartford Rec. Towns aiul 
Lands, i., 81 ; Col. Rec. Conn., 275 ; O'Call., ii., 22S-227 ; Trumbull, i., 205. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 557 

the next day, in the form of a commission "under the seal ch. xvi 
of the colony of Providence Plantations," giving " full pow- ~ 
er and authority to Mr. William Dyer and Captain John 3 j^,,'^ ' ' 
Underhill to take all Dutch ships and vessels as shall come ^jo"™!;; 
into their power, and to defend themselves from the Dutch ^^'J"**^ ''''■ 
and all enemies of the commonw^ealth of England."* 

The New England agents, on reaching Boston, reported 31 May. 
their proceedings in New Netherland, with the testimony missioners 
they had collected ; and also submitted to the commis- ciiusetts m 

. . . p . . , . variaiico. 

sioners some propositions lor protection and assistance 
which had been presented to them on behalf of the disaf- 
fected English at Heemstede and Middelbm'gh. Upon a 
statement of the case, the Greneral Court of Massachusetts 3 Junc 
desired a consultation with the commissioners, and ap- 
pointed a committee to prepare a joint report of the facts 
respecting the difference with the Dutch. The joint com- 
mittee, however, could not agree; and two separate state- 4 June. 
ments were drawn up, one on the part of the commission- 
ers, by G-overnor Eaton, and another on the part of Mas- 
sachusetts, by Major G-eneral Denison. A conference was 
then held before the Greneral Court of Massachusetts " and 
divers neighboring elders," to whom the testimony was 
submitted for their opinion "what the Lord calleth to do." 
The elders found enough to " induce them to believe" in 7 June. 
the reality of "that late execrable plot, tending to the de- 
struction of so many dear saints of God, which is imputed 
to the Dutch governor and fiscal." Yet, upon serious ex- 
amination, they could not find the proofs " so fully con- 
clusive as to clear up present proceedings to war." The 
next day, the General Court of Massachusetts voted that s June, 
they were not " called to make a present war with the 
Dutch." This, however, was not the general sentiment 
out of Boston. The " teacher of the church at Salem" 
wrote to the commissioners, urging immediate hostilities, i3 May. 
the postponement of which had already " caused many a 
pensive heart." Six out of the eight commissioners were 

* Hazard, ii., 249; Hartford Rec. Towns and Lands, i., 76; O'Call., ii., 232, 233; 
Trumbull, i., 205. 



558 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



1653 

12 June. 



ch. XVI. for instant war. The Greneral Court of Massachusetts, 
however, again interposed. In an able exposition of the 
Articles of Confederation, they declared that it was not 
competent "for six commissioners of the other colonies to 
put forth any act of power in a vindictive war, whereby 
they shall command the colonies dissenting to assist them 
Massachu- in the samc." Thus Massachusetts, affirming the doctrine 
vcntsawar of "state rights," prevented New England from commenc- 
Neiher- ius^ an " ofFcnsivc war" against New Netherland. The 
lajiine. commissioners, foiled in their hostile designs, sent a pee- 
vish reply to Stuyvesant, reiterating that the English were 
right and the Dutch were wrong on every point in contro- 
versy, and telling him, with insulting pertinacity, that his 
" confident denials of the barbarous plot charged, will weigh 
little in the balance against such evidence, so that we must 
still require and seek due satisfaction and security."* 

But if open war was averted, covetousness was not re- 
pressed. Underbill, finding his offer of service neglected, 
availed himself of his Rhode Island commission to better 
his private estate at the expense of his recent friends. 
z7 June. Goiug to the unoccupied Dutch Fort Gfood Hope, he post- 
Foncooj 6^ upon it a notice, declaring that, "with permission from 
seized by thc General Court of Hartford," he did "seize upon this 
house and lands thereunto belonging, as Dutch goods 
claimed by the West India Company in Amsterdam, en- 
emies of the commonwealth of England, and thus to re- 
main seized till further determined by the said court."! 

A special meeting of the General Court of Connecticut 
was now held at Hartford, and a representation was or- 
dered to be made to "the Bay," humbly craving that "the 
design may go on according to the consult of the commis- 
sioners," and that Connecticut might have liberty to 

* Col. Rec. Conn., 241 ; Hazard, ii., 233, 248, 250-250, 268-273 ; Trumbull, i., 20C-208 ; 
Hutchinson, i,, 107, 168. 

t Ilarlford Rcc. Towns and Lands, i., 77, 81, 86-88 ; O'Call., ii., 234, 570. Within fonr 
monlhs, Underhill twice sold the Dutch fort and land.s, as his private prize, to citizens of 
Rhode Island and llartlord. But though he alleged that he had permission from the Gen- 
eral Court to make the seizure, thert^ is nothing in the records of Connecticut to justil'y 
his assorljon ; on the contrary, Hartford the next year sequestered the property for her- 
self.- Col. Rec. Conn., 254, 16th April, 1651. 



UuderhUl. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 559 

" gather up volunteers" in Massachusetts ; and Haynes ch. xvi. 
and Ludlow were appointed to confer with the govern- 
ment of New Haven on the subject. Eaton and the New 57 j^^ 
Haven court fully coincided with their brethren at Hart- T^hliyT" 
ford ; and messengers were sent to Massachusetts to urge cut and 

New Ha- 

that "by war, if no other means will serve, the Dutch, atvenurge 
and about the Manhatoes, who have been and still are like s Juiy- 
to prove injurious and dangerous neighbors, may be re- 
moved." But Massachusetts again refused to act "in so24Juiy. 
weighty a concernment as to send forth men to shed blood," settTagaTo 
unless satisfied "that God calls for it; and then it must'^*^"'"^^' 
be clear and not doubtful, necessary and expedient."* 

In the mean time, Stuyvesant had not neglected meas- 
ures for the security of New Netherland. A new danger 
seemed to threaten the province from Virginia, where 
Berkeley, the royal governor, had been obliged to capitu- 1652. 
late to a parliamentary expedition, and had been succeed- ^^ ^^'^^ 
ed by Richard Bennett, one of the Roundhead commis- so Apru. 
sioners. Maryland, too, was reduced to subjection, and June. 
Lord Baltimore's authority was abrogated. In this situ- 
ation of affairs, Stuyvesant, in obedience to his instruc- 
tions to arrange, if possible, a treaty with Virginia, sent 1653. 
Van Tienhoven, the fiscal, and Van Hattem, one of the|^^b^^yto 
burgomasters of New Amsterdam, to negotiate with Ben- ^"■^"'^• 
nett. But the Puritan governor did not feel at liberty to 
conclude a treaty without instructions from Westminster. 
He, nevertheless, agreed to submit Stuyvesant's proposi- 
tions to the home government ; and with this promise the 
Dutch agents returned to New Amsterdam. 

It was also thought necessary to send Allard Anthony, 5 .lune. 
one of the schepens, as a special agent to represent the sit- uouand' 
uation of affairs to the Amsterdam Chamber. The volun- 
tary loan raised by the inhabitants in the spring had en- 
abled the municipal authorities to inclose a part of the 
city with palisades. Fort Amsterdam, however, was not 
yet entirely repaired; and Stuyvesant called upon the city 28 July. 

* Col. Rec. Conn., 244; New Haven Rec, 3, 8, U, 12, 27; O'Call,, ii., 231 ; Trumbull, 
i., 208, 209. 



560 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XVI. government for assistance. The corporation replied that 
the citizens had done all they had undertaken to do, and 
•29 July ' should not be further burdened, as they were "altogether 
2Augiist. in the background." A few days afterward, Stuyvesant's 
ment be- demand was submitted to a meeting of the principal burarh- 

iween the 

ciirector ers at the City Hall. The meeting, considerinsf that the 

iiiid the city . "'. r i r "^ i 

govern- repair and mamtenance of the fort was a proper charge 
upon the provincial revenue alone, unanimously resolved 
"not to contribute any thing until the director general 
give up the whole excise on wines and beers." With this 
resolution, the burgomasters waited upon Stuyvesant, who 
peremptorily refused to yield ; and the meeting promptly 
resolved not to contribute any thing " unless the director 
general acceded to their terms."* 
Return of Van dcr Donck now prepared to return to New Neth- 
Donckfrom erlaud, from which he had been absent nearly four years. 
He had taken the degree of Doctor of Laws at the Uni- 
versity of Leyden, and had been admitted to practice as 
an advocate in the Supreme Court of Holland. During 
his leisure hours, he had occupied himself in wi-iting a 
, " Description of New Netherland," which he submitted to 
the West India Company for their approval. The direct- 
14 May. ors, plcascd with the book, recommended it to the States 
24 May. Greneral ; and a copyright was granted to the author. The 
• Dcscrip- work, however, as it had been prepared, was chiefly a top- 
.Neiher- ographlcal description of New Netherland — an amplifica- 
tion of parts of the " Vertoogh." Wishing to give it a 
more historical character and value. Van der Donck de- 
ferred its publication, and applied to the company for per- 
mission to examine the records in the office of the provin- 
cial secretary. He also asked to be allowed " to follow 
his profession as advocate in New Netherland." The di- 
rectors referred Van der Donck's application to examine 
24 July, their records to Stuyvesant, with an intimation that thr 
permission, if given, should not be so used that "the com- 
pany's own weapons should be turned against itself, and 

* Ilaz.ard, i., 560-563 ; Alb. Rec, iv., 117, 122, 165 ; viii., 96, 97; ix., 57 ; xviil., 163 , 
New Amst. Rec, i., 199, 219-221 ; O'Call., ii., 216, 235, 254 ; Valentine's Manual, 1850, 45P 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 563 

" staple right ;" stop the vessels of private traders ; gain ch. xvi. 
possession of Fort Orange ; grant licenses to private per- 
sons to sail to the coast of Florida ; and with having forbid- 
den their colonists to remove within the company's juris- 
diction, furnish wood for Fort Orange, pay the debts they 
owed the people at that post, or appeal from the judgments 
of the colonial court, as the "Exemptions" had provided. 
They had refused to allow extracts from their records, or 
the publication of the directors' proclamations ; had neg- 
lected to make the required annual reports ; and had incit- 
ed their colonists and officers not to obey the legal process 
of the provincial government. Moreover, the oath which 
their colonists were compelled to take recognized neither 
the States G-eneral nor the company,, and was therefore 
" seditious and mutinous." A rejoinder was soon presented 20 Feb. 
on behalf of the proprietors ; but some of the copartners 19 June, 
beginning to quarrel among themselves, no definite action 
upon the points in dispute with the company seems to have 
been taken by the States G-eneral. In writing to Stuy ve- 6 June, 
sant, the Amsterdam Chamber now suggested whether, for trading- 
protection against the Mohawks and to facilitate the fur above Fon 
trade with the Canadian Indians, it would not be expedi- 
ent to build a trading -house, eighteen or twenty miles 
above Fort Orange.* 

Hostilities had, meanwhile, been renewed between the The mo- 

hawks and 

Iroquois and the French. The Mohawks, supplied with the French, 
fire-arms by the Dutch, invaded the Huron country soon 
after the death of Father Jogues, and attacked the Jesuit 1648. 
missions. The village of Saint Joseph was destroyed, and "'^ 
Father Daniel, murmuring the name of Jesus, perished in 
the midst of his converts. Breboeuf and Lallemant were 
captured at Saint Louis, and burned at the stake with 1649. 
horrid torture. Garnier was beheaded near Saint John's, 
and Chabanel was lost in the forest. The Huron missions 
were broken up, and the desolated country became a hunt- 
ing-ground of the Iroquois. War parties of the Mohawks 

* Alb. Rec, iv., 98 ; viii., 59-63, 215-221 ; Hoi. Doc, vi., 303-306 ; vii., 1-27, 4&-51 ; 
O'Call., ii., 203-210. 



564 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XVI. hovered along the Saint Lawrence, and scornfully passed 
before the walls of Quebec. In vain did the governor of 

aojum- Canada call on New England for aid. The Puritan felt 
unable to help the Papist ; and the commissioners of the 
United Colonies, alleging that the Mohawks were "neither 

15 Sept. in subjection to, nor in any confederation with" them- 
selves, turned a deaf ear to the appeal. 
1653. The Onondagas declared for peace, but the Mohawks 

Fathef"^^' Continued warlike. Father Joseph Poncet was seized at 

Poncct. T}^j.gg Rivers, and hurried off through the Richelieu Riv- 
er and Lake Champlain to the Mohawk castles. The 

8 Sept. prisoner was doomed to torture ; but his life was saved by 
adoption into the family of an old member of the tribe. A 
few days afterward, word came that peace was about be- 
ing concluded with De Lauzon, the governor of Canada, 
who had required the restoration of " the black gown" as 

20 Sept. a preliminary condition ; and Poncet was conveyed to Fort 
Orange, to be clothed and healed. Notwithstanding De 
Lauzon's letters of recommendation, he was coldly received 
by Dyckman, the commissary. But "a worthy old Wal- 
loon" colonist invited the father to his house ; and a sur- 
geon, employed by a Scotch matron "who was always 
kind to the French," dressed his wounds. After adminis- 
tering the rites of religion to two Roman Catholic residents, 

3 October, the missionary took leave of his generous friends at Be- 

15 October, vcrwyck, and returned to the Mohawk country, whence he 
set out for Canada. Travelling by way of the Oswego and 
Lake Ontario, he descended the Saint Lawrence to Que- 
bec. Of Europeans, Poncet appears to have been the next 
after Champlain to visit the borders of Onondaga.* 

n Sept. At the annual meeting of the commissioners, Massachu- 

thTNew" setts maintained her proud position with a firmness which 

govern" almost perilled the stability of the confederation. A bit- 
ter altercation between the representatives of the other col- 
onies and the G-eneral Court was terminated by an am- 

so Sept. biguous concession, which, nevertheless, averted hostilities. 

* Tanner, 031-513; Relation, 1648-9, 1052-3, 46-77; Creiaius, 672-682; Charlevoix, 
i., 283-316; Haiard, ii., 183; Bancroft, iii., 138-142; O'Call., ii., 300-302; Ilildreth, ii., 
87, 88 ; Macerata Relation, 1653 ; ante, p. 423. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 565 

The Connecticut governments seemed animated by the ch. xvi. 
most vindictive feelings ; and their own recent historian _^ 

laments the refusal of the Massachusetts authorities to bear 
part in an offensive war against New Netherland, as an 
" indelible stain upon their honor as men and upon their 
morals as Christians."*' 

The commissioners, however, had the power to cause 
some annoyance to the Dutch ; and they used their pow- 
er. Thomas Baxter, a former resident of New Amster- Thomas 
dam, inflamed with zeal in the parliamentary cause, turn- piracies. 
ed pirate, and committed various outrages on Long Island 
and the neighborhood. Under an alleged commission from 
Rhode Island, he seized in Heemstede harbor a vessel be- 
longing to New Plymouth, and also captured a Dutch boat 
near Manhattan. Stuyvesant promptly dispatched two 
vessels with a hundred men to blockade Baxter in Fair- 
field Roads. But the commissioners declared it " neces- 27 sept. 
sary" that every jurisdiction should prohibit all Dutch ves- seisexcimj. 
sels from coming into any harbor belonging to any of the New En- 
confederate colonies, without express license ; and made bors. 
it lawful for each colonie to "surprise and seize" any such 
offenders. The New Netherland blockading force was, 
therefore, obliged to retire ; and Baxter continued his dep- 
redations against both Dutch and English property, until 
he was eventually ordered to be arrested by the authorities 2 Dec 
of New Haven and Hartford. t 

The hostile feelings of Connecticut could scarcely be re- 
pressed. It was thought that Hartford and New Haven 
were strong enough to subdue the Dutch without any aid 
from Massachusetts ; and Stamford and Fairfield, under- 
taking to raise volunteers on their own account, appointed 
Ludlow their leader. These irregular proceedings were 
suppressed with some difficulty by the government of New 
Haven, and the ringleaders were punished. An address 

* Hazard, ii., 274-283 ; Trumbull, i., 212 ; North American Review, viii., 96-105. 

t Hazard, ii., 285-288, 294 ; Alb. Rec, ix., 117, 129, 155 ; New Haven Rec, 31, 34 ; Col. 
Rec. Conn., 252, 253 ; O'Call., ii., 235; R. I. Hist. Coll., v., 95. Baxter was afterward 
surrendered on Stuyvesant's requisition ; but escaping from jail, his vessel and house at 
New Amsterdam were sold. 



566 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XVI. was sent to Cromwell, urging that " the Dutch be either 
~~~ removed, or so far, at least, subjected that the colonies may 
October ^® ^^®® from injurious affronts, and secured against the 
^^'^^^y°jj dangers and mischievous effects which daily grow upon 
fifarn" them by their plotting with the Indians and furnishing 
them with arms against the English." And Hooke wrote 
13 Nov. from New Haven to the Lord G-eneral, that those of " the 
Bay" had broken "the brotherly covenant" in declining 
to draw the sword ; and that, if the Dutch be not remov- 
ed, "we and our posterity (now almost prepared to swarm 
forth plenteously) are confined and straitened." Two or 
three frigates should, therefore, be sent " for the clearing of 
the coast from a nation with which the English can not 
either mingle, nor easily sit under their government, nor 
so much as live by, without danger of our lives and all our 
comforts in this world."* 
Libellous That nothing might be left undone to excite animosity 
ppbiished iu England, a rancorous pamphlet was published in Lon- 
don, entitled " The second part of the Amboyna Tragedy; 
or a faithful account of a bloody, treacherous, and cruel 
plot of the Dutch in America, purporting the total ruin 
and murder of all the English colonists in New England ; 
extracted from the various letters lately written from New 
England to different merchants in London." Li this ex- 
traordinary publication the " devilish project" to stir up 
the savages to assault the New England colonists "on a 
Sunday, when they would be altogether in their meeting- 
houses, and murder and burn all which they could eflect," 
was roundly charged against the Dutch, and amplified 
without scruple, to move popular hostility. >The Amster- 
dam directors immediately ordered the translation of what 
they termed this "most infamous lying libel," a copy of 
which they sent to Stuyvesant and his council, "that your 
honors may see what stratagems that nation employs, not 
only to irritate the populace, but the whole world, if pos- 
sible, and to stir it up against us."t 

* Col. Rcc. Conn., 248; New Haven Rec, 27; Thurloe's Stale Papers, i., 564, 565; 
Trumbull, i., 212, 214, 215. 
t Alb. Rec, iv., 121 ; viii., 147-150 ; O'Call., ii., 571. The original appears to be rare. 



at London. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 567 

The company, now seriously alarmed at the danger ch. xvi. 
which threatened their American province on the side of 
New England, presented to the States Greneral a long me- g Nov. 
morial, accompanied by various explanatory papers, ask- Jy app^y''fo 
ing for an immediate confirmation of Stuy vesant's provi- ceneraiTo 
sional agreement at Hartford, and that the boundary ques- fhef""" 
tion might be included in the instructions to the ambassa- '^°""'i'"">'- 
dors in England. The importance of the trade to Barba- 
does was also urged ; and the directors warmly represent- 
ed that the Dutch interests in America and the West In- 
dies were as worthy of the favor of the Fatherland as were 
those in the East Indies. The subject was seriously con- 8 Nov. 

. "^ -^ Negotia- 

sidered in the meeting of the States Greneral. But the tion for 

11 XI 1 • T • peace wit:i 

ambassadors at London were now engaged m discussmg, England. 
with the English Council of State, the details of a general 
treaty of peace, under the auspices of the new Pensionary 
of Holland, John de Witt ; and, perhaps to avoid embar- 
rassing the more important negotiation, the question of 
New Netherland was postponed.* 

In this critical situation of provincial affairs, with an Nov. 
bankrupt treasury and a mouldering fort, Stuyvesant was affuirs'of 
at length obliged to yield to the demands of the burghers sterdam. 
of New Amsterdam. The principal citizens were called 
together, and informed that the director had consented to 
give up a part of the excise ; and the meeting unanimous- 
ly resolved to submit to such ordinances as should be made 
for the defense of the city. On the same day, a petition 
of the inhabitants was presented to the municipal author- 
ities, praying that a burgher schout might be chosen, and 
that the company's fiscal should no longer act as a city 
officer. Stuyvesant, however, yielded what he had with 
great reluctance, and with the condition that the city gov- 
ernment should support the two clergymen, the school- 
masters, and the secretary. But the burgomasters and lo Nov. 
schepens, finding it " incompatible to continue thus," unan- 
imously agreed to ask their dismission from office, unless 
the whole city revenue should be surrendered to them. 

* Hoi. Doc, vii., 63-103 ; Verbael van Ceverninck, 603-611 ; Davies, ii., 722, 724. 



568 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XVI. The director, however, replied that he could neither ac- 
; cept their resignations, nor give up the whole of the excise. 
25 Nov '^^^^ demand was renewed ; and Stuyvesant at last agreed 
renderedTo ^^ Surrender to the city the excises upon liquors consumed 
the city, within New Amsterdam, upon condition that the burgo- 
masters and schepens should furnish subsidies for the main- 
tenance of the city works, and for the support of civil and 
ecclesiastical officers, and that the excise should be pub- 
licly farmed out to the highest bidder, "after the manner 
of Fatherland."* 
Disaflic- A spirit of disaffection had, meanwhile, been spreading 
English on among the English on Long Island, Notwithstanding its 
and.^ ^ sycophantic letter to the Amsterdam Chamber in 1651, 
Gravesend, under the influence of Ensign George Baxter 
and Sergeant James Hubbard, was now foremost in op- 
posing the provincial government. Contrary to its charter, 
that town, instead of openly nominating for magistrates 
three of its ablest " approved honest men," had determined 
to choose " one leading man," who should select a second, 
and they two a third, and so on until six were chosen. 
Three of these were to be magistrates, and the other three 
assistants. The object of this change was to exclude, if 
possible, the Dutch from any influence in the town mag- 
istracy. Baxter had at first opposed the innovation, and 
had called on Stuyvesant not to approve the nominations. 
And the director did not, in fact, approve them until the 
nominees had sworn allegiance to the States General, the 
West India Company, and the provincial government of 
Gravesend. Ncw Ncthcrland. This oath, however, sat very lightly on 
the consciences of the Gravesend magistrates when news 
of the war in Europe reached America. Nevertheless, the 
feeling of disaflection was chiefly against Stuyvesant him- 
self and his council. During the summer of 1653, the 
numerous losses which the Long Island colonists had suf- 
fered from the savages and from pirates induced them to 
take some measures for their security. Deputations from 
Gravesend, Middclburgh, and Heemstede accordingly as- 

* New Amsterdam Rec, i., 300-310 ; O'Call., ii., 255. 



i 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 569 

sembled at Flushing, and opened a communication with ch. xvi 
the municipal government of New Amsterdam.* ~^ 

This led to a meeting of delegates at the City Hall, to ^^ ^^^ ' 
consider what could be best done "for the welfare of the jg^lglj^tls"' 
country and its inhabitants, and to determine on some^^^^t^. 
wise and salutary measures to arrest these robberies." "^^"^ 
La Montague and Werckhoven attended on the part of 
the provincial council ; Kregier and Van der Grrist repre- 
sented New Amsterdam ; Baxter and Hubbard came from 
Gravesend ; Hicks and Feake from Flushing ; and Coe 
and Hazard from Middelburgh or Newtown. An order 
from Stuyvesant was read, directing the delegates sev- 
erally to communicate, in writing, their opinions respect- 
ing the best means of protecting the country from robbers. 
But the English delegates, headed by Baxter, first required 
to know by what right Werckhoven, whose purchase at 
New Utrecht encroached upon Grravesend, sat in the con- 
vention. They would not recognize him as a delegate from 
the council, and refused to allow any representative of the 
provincial government to preside in their meeting. At the 
same time, they desired to continue in allegiance to the 
States Greneral and the company, and to "enter into a firm 
union with the burgomasters and schepens." The New 
Amsterdam delegates, however, would not consent to such 27 Nov. 
an alliance until they had consulted with the provincial 
government and the several villages. " If the burgomas- 
ters and schepens will not unite with us," replied the En- 
glish delegates, " we shall enter into a firm union among 
ourselves on Long Island, for the director general affijrds 
us no protection." Stuyvesant did not object to the New 
Amsterdam delegates co-operating with those from the En- 
glish villages ; but as the Dutch would be outvoted now. Proposed 
he announced his intention to incorporate Amersfoort, tion of the 
Breuckelen, and Midwout, "so as to possess with Fort Or-iages. 
ange, on all future occasions, an equal number of votes." 

The New Amsterdam delegates at length recommended 29 Nov. 
a remonstrance to the West India Company ; and with a 

* Alb. Rec, viii., 53 ; Gravesend Rec, 9th Jan., 1651 ; 19th March, 1652 ; ante, p. 412. 



570 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XVI. view of learning the opinions of the colonists on Long Isl- 
and and Staten Island, proposed an adjournment. It was, 
■ therefore, agreed to meet again on the tenth of December. 
A parting collation was given, to which ^tuyvesant was 
invited, and he was informed in blunt terms " that they 
should meet again on the tenth of the next month ; he 
might then do as he pleased, and prevent it if he could." 
A conven- The city government also formally notified the director of 
rnanded. the intention of the delegates to address the West India 
Company, and asked that he would summon the villages 
to send representatives to the proposed convention, to assist 
in the preparation of a remonstrance. 
3 Dec. Stuyvesant very reluctantly sanctioned the meeting, 

assents, which he could not prevent. The conduct of the English 
delegates " smelt of rebellion, of contempt of his high au- 
thority and commission." He had done all he could to 
protect them from marauders; but the colonists had, con- 
trary to orders, scattered their dwellings, so that hundreds 
of soldiers could scarcely guard them from the robbers, 
" who often come as friends and neighbors, and are pro- 
vided with lodgings by the English." He had doubts 
whether the convention would be beneficial ; for the ad- 
ministration of his predecessor, as well as his own, had al- 
ready witnessed the evils of popular assemblies. Never- 
theless, as he had nothing more at heart than the prosperity 
of New Netherland and the union of her people, "without 
any distinction of origin," he assented to the proposed 
meeting. It was, "under the direction of two of the coun- 
cil," to agree upon an address truly representing the con- 
dition of the country to the Fatherland ; but to do noth- 
ing to prejudice the action of the government in disapprov- 
8 Dec. ing the conduct of the former delegates. "Writs to this ef- 
(iag""or feet were soon afterward sent to the several neighboring 
';°iied!"'°" villages, for the election of representatives to meet in a 
" Landtdag," or Diet, at New Amsterdam. The season 
was too far advanced to communicate readily with the 
colonists at Fort Orange and on the South River.* 

* Alb. Rec, ix., 2, 5, 15-24, 35, 4" ; New Amst. Rec, i., 276, 315, 324, 335. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 57I 

The most important popular convention that had ever ch. xvi. 
assembled in New Netherland accordingly met at Ne\v~rr~I~ 
Amsterdam. The metropolis was represented by Van Hat- jq p^j. 
tem, Kregier, and Van der Grrist ; Breuckelen by Lubbert- ^fconve"n- 
sen, Van der Beeck, and Beeckman ; Flushing by Hicks ''""■ 
and Feake ; Middelburgh, or Newtown, by Coe and Haz- 
ard ; Heemstede by Washburn and Somers ; Amersfoort, 
or Flatlands, by Wolfertsen, Strycker, and Swartwout ; 
Midwout, or Flatbush, by Elbertsen and Spicer ; and 
Gravesend by Baxter and Hubbard. Of the towns repre- 
sented, four were Dutch and four English ; of the dele- 
gates, ten were of Dutch and nine of English nativity. 
But as Baxter had probably most experience in preparing 
State Papers, the duty of drawing up the Remonstrance 
of the Diet was intrusted to him. 

The next day, the delegates unanimously adopted and n Dec. 

Ill • ?-iT^ Remon- 

signed the document m which Baxter had ably embodied strance of 

" 1 1 • 1 theconven- 

their views. The authority of the States General and the tion. 
West India Company was distinctly recognized ; and the 
rights of the colonists were claimed to harmonize " in ev- 
ery respect with those of Netherland, being a member de- 
pendent on that state, and in no wise a people conquered 
or subjugated." " Composed of various nations from dif- 
ferent parts of the world, leaving at our own expense our 
country and countrymen, we voluntarily came under the 
protection of our sovereign High and Mighty Lords the 
States General, whom we acknowledge as our lieges ; and 
being made members of one body, subjected ourselves, as 
in duty bound, to the general laws of the United Prov- 
inces, and all other new orders and ordinances, which by 
virtue of the aforesaid authority may be published, agree- 
ably to the customs, freedoms, grants, and privileges of 
the Netherlands." With this loyal preface, the conven- 
tion proceeded to declare its view of the evils which af- 
flicted New Netherland, and to demand redress. I. The 
fear of the establishment of an arbitrary government. New- 
laws had been enacted by the director and council, with- 
out the knowledge or consent of the people. This was 



572 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



Ch. XVI. 



1653. 



Statement 
of grievan- 
ces. 



12 Dec. 
Character 
of the Re- 
mon- 
strance. 



"contrary to the granted privileges of the Netherland gov- 
ernment, and odious to every free-born man, and especially 
so to those whom G-od has placed under a free state, in 
newly-settled lands, who are entitled to claim laws, not 
transcending, but resembling as near as possible those of 
the Netherlands." It was, therefore, contrary to the priv- 
ileges of the people of New Netherland to enact laws with- 
out their consent. II. As the provincial government does 
not protect the people against the savages, the people must 
look to their own defense. III. Officers and magistrates, 
without the consent or nomination of the people, "are ap- 
pointed to many places, contrary to the laws of the Nether- 
lands." IV. Old orders and proclamations of the director 
and council, made without the knowledge or consent of the 
people, remain obligatory, and subject them to loss and 
punishment, tlirough ignorance. V. Promised patents, on 
the faith of which large improvements had been made at 
Middelburgh and Midwout, and elsewhere, had been 
wrongfully and suspiciously delayed. VI. Large tracts of 
land had been granted to favored individuals, to the great 
injury of the province. "As we have, for easier reference, 
reduced all our grievances to six heads," concluded the 
delegates, "we renew our allegiance, in the hope that sat- 
isfaction will be granted to the country according to estab- 
lished justice, and all dissensions be settled and allayed."* 
A copy of this paper was delivered to Stuyvesant, and 
a " categorical answer" to each of its heads was demand- 
ed. Though drawn up by Baxter, it was approved and 
signed by every delegate ; and it expressed the unanimous 
opinion of the convention. Its tone was as affectionately 
loyal to the Fatherland of the Dutch as was the memorial 
which Van der Donok had prepared in 1649. In the midst 
of the war between Holland and England ; with natural 
leanings toward the side of their countrymen ; with hearts 
full of bitterness against Stuyvesant and his administra- 
tion, yet with an honest admiration of the government of 



* Alb. Rec.ix., 28-33; IIol. Doc, xv., 1C8-175 ; Thompson's L. I., i., Ill, 112; ii., 306- 
308 ; O'Call., ii., 238-246, 263, 264 ; Bancroft, ii., 306. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 575 

their remonstrance, they would protest to their common ch. xvi. 
superiors, the States G^eneral and the West India Company. 

Stuyvesant had already exhausted argument. All that ' '^ 
remained was to exercise his prerogative. The members 
of the convention were ordered to disperse, "on pain of 14 Dec. 
our highest displeasure," in a farewell message which ar- venuon" 
rogantly declared that " we derive our authority from Grod '^^""^ " 
and the company, not from a few ignorant subjects ; and 
we alone can call the inhabitants together." And letters 
were sent to Breuckelen, Amersfoort, and Midwout, or- le Dec. 
dering them to prohibit their delegates from appearing, for 
the present, in any meeting at New Amsterdam.* 

The popular voice, however, was not stifled. The bur- 
gomasters and schepens of New Amsterdam addressed a 24 Dec. 
letter to the West India Company, declaring that Stuyve- burgwms- 
sant's instructions of the 2d of February were "too nar- schepens to 

,,!,.« . . , , . the West 

row, ' and askmg lor municipal powers as nearly as possi- india com- 
ble according to the form of government of the " beloved'"'"'^" 
city of Amsterdam," from which " we have received our 
name." The city schout should be chosen by and from 
the burghers, and should not be the company's own fiscal. 
The whole of the excise, " without any limitation," should 
go into the city treasury ; and as that was insufficient to 
pay salaries and keep the public works in repair, the mu- 
nicipal government should have power to levy new taxes. More pow- 
and to farm out the ferry between New Amsterdam and 
Breuckelen. The city should be empowered to ascertain 
its debts ; be enabled to convey lands ; have a seal sepa- 
rate from that of the province ; be granted a Stadt Huys, 
or City Hall ; and sufficient munitions of war should be 
provided for defense against the " unfriendly English."! 

The Gravesend magistrates also sent a letter protesting 27 Dec 
their allegiance to the States General and the company, oravesJnli 
" under whose protection they had placed themselves, with- 
out any intention to revolt." Van Werckhoven's grant, 
however, encroached on their patent, and was a sore griev- 

* Alb. Rec, ix., 34-56 ; O'Call., ii., 247-252; Bancroft, ii., 307; Thompson, i , 113. 
t New Amst. Rec, i., 345-350 ; Alb. Rec., viii., 96-98. 



576 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XVI. ance. Such grants to private persons, under the pretense 
of promoting colonization, could not contribute to the pros- 

Letter from P^^^ity ^f the provincc. " As long as you see through the 

Gravesend. qjqq Qf ^^yp or tlircc pcrsous, who perhaps have their own 
profit only in view, and are prompted by ambition, without 
regard to the interests of the commonalty or that of the 
company, so long you can not obtain a true account of the 
real condition of this province, nor of your own private 
concerns." " We appreciate the high value of a lawful 
liberty which we claim, and for which, if granted, and if 
it please God, in his mercy, to reconcile the differences be- 
tween the two commonwealths, we shall not only feel grat- 
ified, but thankful." " For, if your honors should lose this 
country, though we sincerely wish to be long favored with 
your protection, it will be through the means of those who 
are intrusted with the chief command." 

A letter of a similar tone, signed by Kregier, Baxter, 

30 Dec. and others, was also addressed to the burgomasters and 
sohepens of the city of Amsterdam. All these papers 
were intrusted to Francois le Bleeuw, an advocate, who 

Agent sent was dispatclicd as agent to Holland at the expense of the 
" city, with instructions to use every legitimate means to 
procure the reforms which the people demanded.* 

Though the building of Fort Casimir had seriously em- 
barrassed the Provincial Exchequer, it embarrassed the 

South Riv- Swedes on the South River still more. Printz, finding 
his situation becoming every day mop.-e unpleasant, applied 
to his government for permission to return home. The 
Swedish colonists themselves seemed inclined to submit 
to the Dutch jurisdiction, and even made overtures to 

6 October. Stuyvcsant, who, however, declined to act until he had 
learned the views of the Amsterdam Chamber. His supe- 
riors, willing to protect all who were obedient to their laws, 

4 Nov. wrote to the director, " The population of the country, that 
bulwark of every state, ought to be promoted by all means, 
so that the settling of freemen may not be shackled." 

* Alb. Rec, iv., 136 ; viii., 53-58 ; Hoi. Doc, ix., 256-260 ; xv.. 165 ; O'Call., ii., 238- 
256, 269. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL 577 

Without waiting for his leave to return, Printz executed ch. xvi. 
his design ; and leaving his son-in-law, John Pappegoya, 
in temporary charge of affairs, he embarked for Holland, Depanur* 
bearing a private letter from Stuyvesant to the West India ?'^nov"''' 
Company " in favor of the late Swedish governor."* Law- 
rence Charles Lokenius, a Lutheran clergyman who hadLokeniua. 
succeeded Campanius, remained with the people at Tinni- 
cum and Christina. 

The government of Sweden had meanwhile placed the 
management of their interests on the South River in the 
hands of the " G-eneral College of Commerce." Prepara- 
tions were made to dispatch a ship with two hundred per- 11 October 
sons to assist the colony, where there were now only six- 
teen men to garrison the three Swedish forts ; and John 
Rising, formerly secretary of the College of Commerce, 12 Dec 
was commissioned as deputy governor under Printz. He pointed 
was to endeavor to extend the Swedish jurisdiction on both governor, 
sides of the river, "but without a breach of friendship 
with the English and Dutch, or exposing to risk what we 
already possess." With respect to Fort Casimir, which 
the Dutch had just built, if he could not induce them, by 
remonstrances, to abandon it, he was to avoid resorting to 
hostilities, and rather to " suffer the Dutch to occupy the 
said fortress, than that it should fall into the hands of the 
English, who are the more powerful, and, of course, the 
most dangerous in that country." Another Swedish fort 
should be constructed lower down the river ; but the mild- 
est measures should be pursued, as, " by a rupture with 
the Dutch, the English may seize the opportunity to take 
possession of the aforesaid fortress, and become, in conse- 
quence, very dangerous neighbors to our possessions." 
With these instructions. Rising, accompanied by another 
clergyman, Peter Lindstrom an engineer, and a large mil- 
itary force, set sail for New Sweden.! 

* Alb. Rec, iv., 121, 138 ; Hoi. Doc, viii., 32, 84 ; S. Hazard, Ann. Penn., 139, 140, 147, 
148 ; Plymouth Rec, ii., 87 ; ante, p. 484. 

t Thurloe's State Papers, i., 524 ; Reg. Penn., iv., 374, 399 ; S. Hazard, Ann. Penn., 
141-146 ; Aerelius, 414. 

Oo ^ 



578 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



CHAPTER XVIL 

1654-1655. 

ch. XVIL New Amsterdam had now enjoyed for a year its limited 

municipal government. But its turghers pined for the 

^^'^^- larger franchises of the cities of their Fatherland ; and the 
burgomasters and schepens, whose term of service was 

27 January, about to cxpirc, petitioned Stuyvesant for liberty to pre- 
steJdanraf- scut a double set of names, from among which the magis- 
trates for the next year should be chosen. They also asked 
that the magistracy should receive salaries. The direct- 
or, however, "for pregnant reasons," declined a compliance 

28 January. " respecting thc nomination," but, " for the sake of peace 

and harmony," continued the old magistrates in office, and 
appointed Jochem Pietersen Kuyter and Oloff Stevensen 
van Cortlandt to fill two vacancies in the board of Sche- 
pens. The application for salaries was, however, granted. 

Salaries ai- Each burgomastcr was allowed three hundred and fifty 
guilders a year, and each schepen two hundred and fifty, 
as they were, " for the most part, such persons as must 
maintain their houses and families by trade, farming, or 
mechanical labor."* < m 

Critical sit- The situation of the province at the bej^inning of this 

uation of . i m ■ i c i 

theprov- year was extremely critical. Takmg advantage of the 
continued hostilities between Holland and England, pi- 
rates and robbers infested the shores of the East River, 
and committed unrepressed excesses on Long Island and 
around New Amsterdam. The English residents began 
to mutter threats of mutiny, and many of them were sus- 
pected of communicating with the freebooters, who were 

* New Amst. Rec, i., 359, 373-375 ; Alb. Rec, vii., 279, 288 ; ix., 70, 71. On the I2tli 
of January, the burgomasters and schepens allowed their secretary, Jacob Kip, a salary 
of two hundred guilders, as receiver of the city revenue. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 579 

chiefly their own countrymen. Grravesend was notorious- ch. xvn. 
ly disaffected. Sir Henry Moody himself did not scruple 
to join in a certificate declaring that Captain John Man- pj^^g-g^,. ' 
ning, who had been playing the spy while he was carry- craveLnd. 
ing on an unlawful trade between New Haven and Man- 
hattan, " had tendered himself and vessel to serve the 
commonwealth of England."* 

But New Amsterdam nobly maintained her loyalty. 
The city government recommended that a vessel be sta- 10 Feb. 
tioned at " Minnewit's Island," and likewise proposed to 
Stuvvesant to raise a militia force of some forty men amone Muitia 

force ap- 

the several villages and settlements, according to a ratable portioned. 
proportion.! John Scott, of Long Island, and others, were 
arrested and examined as suspected persons, at the instance le March. 
of the fiscal. Breuckelen, Amersfoort, and Midwout were 
specially invited by the metropolis "to lend their aid at 23 March 
this critical conjuncture, to further whatever may advance 
the public defense." The Dutch villages heartily agreed 
"to assist with all their might." Every third man was 
detailed to act as a minute-man, whenever required ; and 28 March. 
their whole population was pledged to be ready to defend - Aprii. 
their firesides in case of invasion. 

The provincial government immediately commissioned s Aprii. 
several yachts to act against the pirates. A proclamation against pi- 
was issued prohibiting all persons, under the penalty of ' 
banishment and the confiscation of goods, from harboring 
the outlaws, for each of whom a reward of one hundred 
thalers was offered ; and all strangers without passports 
were directed to be detained until they gave satisfactory 
accounts of themselves. To prevent any misunderstand- 14 April, 
ing with the neighboring governments. Burgomaster Kre- 
gier and Fiscal Van Tienhoven were sent to New Haven, 
to explain that the only object of the Dutch proceedings 

* New Haven Rec, 46-49 ; O'Call., ii., 204 ; Trurnbull, i., 213. Manning was arrested 
and tried at New Haven in April, 1654, and his vessel condemned and sold, " by inch of 
candle," as a lawful prize. See also post, p. 743. 

t This proportion was, Manhattan, eight ; Heemstede, four ; Vlissengen, three ; Graves- 
end, three ; Middelburgh and Mespath Kill, three ; Breuckelen, the Ferry, and the Wal- 
loon quarter, four ; Midwout, two ; Amersfoort, two ; Staten Island, two ; Paulus' Hook, 
one ; Beverwyck, four ; colonie of Rensselaerswyck, four. — New Amst. Rec, i., 378- 



580 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XVII. was the protection of their commerce and the punishment 
of robbery.* 

The prompt loyalty of Breuckelen, Amersfoort, and Mid- 
wout now received its reward ; and Stuyvesant executed 
the purpose he had announced the autumn before, of giv- 
ing them such municipal privileges as would counterbal- 
ance the political influence of the English villages. Breuck- 
-Aprii. elen had already two schepens ; two more were now added, 
lea, Amers- and David Provoost, the former commissary of Fort Hope, 
Midwout was made her first separate schout. Midwout was granted 
nicipaigov- the right to nominate three schepens. Amersfoort obtain- 

ernments. - , , . 

ed two. The powers oi these local magistrates were some- 
what similar to those of the municipality of New Amster- 
dam. A superior " district court" was also organized, 
composed of delegates from each town court, together with 
the schout. This district court had general authority to 
regulate roads, build churches, establish schools, and make 
local laws for the government of the district, subject to the 
approval of the provincial government. This arrangement 
continued until 1661. t 

Up to this time, the Dutch on Long Island had been 
without a church or a minister ; and to attend public wor- 
ship they had been obliged to cross the East River to New 
Amsterdam. The metropolitan clergymen occasionally 
preached at private houses in the Dutch villages; but the 
want of a settled minister at length became so serious an 
9 Feb. embarrassment, that Doraine Megapolensis and a commit- 
Midwoutortee of the provincial council were sent over to Midwout 
to assist the people in organizing a church. On their part, 
83 Feb. the West India Company did what they could to remedy 
the evil. Six hundred guilders were appropriated for a 
salary ; and the Classis of Amsterdam was requested to 
select a qualified preacher " to watch over the public re- 

* New Amst. Rec, i., 376-427 ; Alb. Rcc, vii., 264-266; ix., 80, 81, 107-120 ; O'Call., 
ii., 258 ; Thompson's L. I., i., 113. 

t Alb. Tlec, ix., 16, 35, 47, 118,226; x., 16, 36,47,79, 115,240,302, 345; xi., 187; xix., 
91, 444 ; O'Call , ii., 271, 272, 429; Doc. Hist. N. Y., i., 633-655; Flatbush Rec. ; ante, 
p. 422, 569. New Utrecht and Boswyck, or Dushwick, were joined to Breuckelen, Am- 
ersfoort, and Midwout in 1061, when the district was called the "Five Dutch Towns." 
Provoost remained schout of Breuckelen until 1656, when he was succeeded by Peter 
Tonneman, who held the office until 1C60. Adriaen liegeman was then appointed. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 581 

ligion there." But before a proper clergyman was found ch. xvii 
willins; to emigrate from Holland, Domine Johannes The- 
odorus Polhemus, who had been for some time stationed Doling ' 
at Itamarca, in Brazil, arrived in New Netherland, and ac- ^a^'ied""*^' 
cepted the call of the people of Midwout. The magistrates 
of Midwout and Amersfoort petitioned the council for as- 
sistance in their enterprise ; and permission was accord- 13 October 
ingly given them to employ Domine Polhemus, "until an 
answer be received from Holland," and to raise funds for 
his support by a general collection. A small wooden 
church in the form of a cross, about sixty feet long and 
twenty-eight wide, was ordered to be constructed at Mid- n Dec. 
wout ; and Megapolensis, with two of the magistrates of Fiatbnah. 
the village, were appointed "to promote the work to the 
best advantage of the public." Upward of three thousand 
guilders were contributed by the Dutch inhabitants of New 
Amsterdam, Fort Orange, and Long Island ; and Stuyve- 
sant added four hundred more out of the provincial treas- 
ury. The West India directors approved of the arrange- 
ment ; but intimated that the people of Midwout must 
pay the salary of their clergyman without recourse to the 
company. In this first Reformed Dutch church on Long 
Island, Domine Polhemus preached every Sunday morn- 
ing, and in the afternoon at Breuckelen and Amersfoort 
alternately. Thus affairs remained until 1660, when 
Domine Henry Selyns arrived from Holland, and became 
the pastor of the people at Breuckelen.* 

The Lutherans had now become so numerous at New Lutherans 
Amsterdam, that they proposed to call a clergyman of Amster- 
their own denomination. To this end they asked formal 
permission of Stuyvesant to worship publicly in a church 
by themselves. The director, however, who was a zeal- 
ous Calvinist, declined, for the reason that he was bound 
by his oath to tolerate openly no other religion than the 
Reformed. The Lutherans then addressed themselves di- 
rectly to the West India Company and to the states of 

* Cor. Classis Amst. ; Letters of 26th February, and 11th November, 1654; Megapo- 
lenBis to Classis, 18th March, 1655 ; New Amst. Rec. ; Alb. Rec, iv.. 179 ; ix., 102, 238, 
302 ; X., 332 ; xiv., 80, 81 ; O'Call., ii., 272 ; Thompson's L. I., ii., 202-204. 



582 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XVII. Holland. But the Dutch clergymen at Manhattan, and 
the Classis of Amsterdam represented that such a compli- 
iihberai ^^ce would producc bad consequences ; for the Anabap- 
oiTh^LS- tists and English Independents, of whom there were many 
iherans. -^^ ^^^ provuice, would thcii demand the same liberty. 
The directors, therefore, resolved that they wovild encour- 
age no other doctrine in New Netherland than " the true 
i-j March. Reformed;" and Stuyvesant was instructed to use " al! 
moderate exertions" to allure the Lutherans to the Dutch 
churches, " and to matriculate them in the public Re- 
26 Feb. formed religion." In communicating this resolution to 
Megapolensis and Drisius, the Classis expressed their hope 
that the Reformed religion would now " be preserved and 
maintained, without hindrance from the Lutheran and 
other errors." This departure from the policy of the Ra- 
ta vian Republic was a triumph of bigotry over statesman- 
ship ; and one of the crowning glories of the Fatherland 
was, for a season, denied to New Netherland.* 

1653. The representations which Connecticut and New Haven 
5ff Dec. j^a^jj addressed to Cromwell strongly influenced the ambi- 

Cromwell . '-' '' 

Protector, tious soldlcr, wlio had just assumed the office of Protector. 
Though negotiations for peace were in progress, England 
was still at open war with the United Provinces ; and a 
favorable opportunity of engaging the support of the 
friends of New England, by seizing New Netherland, was 

1654. now offered to Oliver. He, therefore, advised the govern- 
ebniary. ^^^ ^^ ^|^^ Ncw England coloiiies that the number and 

strength of the ships destined for those parts had been in- 
creased, and called upon them to give their " utmost as- 
sistance for gaining the Manhattoes, or other places under 
i^Feb. the power of the Dutch." At the same time, Major Rob- 
against'"'" ert Scdgwick and Captain John Leverett were instructed 
enZid. * to proceed, with four ships of war, to some good port in 
New England, and ascertain whether the colonial govern- 
ments would join in '• vindicating the English right and 
extirpating the Dutch." " Being come to the Manhat- 

* Cor. 01. Amsterdam ; Letter of Megapolensis and Drisius, 6tli October, 1653 ; Letter 
of Classis, 26tlx February, 1654 ; Alb. Rec, iv., 130 ; ante, p. 312, 432. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. ^SS 

toes," wrote Secretary Thurloe, "you shall, "by way of sur- ch. xvii. 
prise, open force, or otherwise, * * * endeavor to take in ; 
that place for the use of his Highness the Lord Protector inside. 
of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland ; ''°"'* 
and you have power to promise and give them fair quar- 
ter, in case it be rendered upon summons, without hostile 
opposition. The like, also, you shall do to the Fort of Au- 
ranea, or any other place upon Hudson's River." " If the 
Lord give his blessing to your undertaking, that the forts 
and places be gained, you shall not use cruelty to the in- 
habitants, but encourage those that are willing to remain 
under the English government, and give liberty to others 
to transport themselves for Europe." With these instruc- 
tions, Sedgwick and Leverett promptly set sail for New 
England. But the squadron running southwardly to Fay- 
al, the Protector's commissioners did not reach Boston un- fg June. 
til the beginning of the next summer.* 

In the mean time, the cupidity of Connecticut had been sequestra- 
partially gratified by the formal sequestration of the Dutch Good Hope 
fort at Hartford. Disregarding Underbill's volunteer seiz- ucut. 
ure, and referring to an order from the parliamentary Coun- 
cil of State to act against the Dutch " as against those that 
have declared themselves enemies to the commonwealth 
of England," the G-eneral Court directed that " the Dutch i^ April, 
house, the Hope, with the lands, buildings, and fences 
thereunto belonging, be hereby sequestered and reserved, 
all particular claims or pretended right thereunto notwith- 
standing ;" and with hasty thrift it claimed the disposal 
of all "rent for any part of the premises."! 

One of the vessels which had been dispatched from En- May. 

■ • T-> 1 1 • i\r ^ 1 ■ 11 • News oC 

gland arrivmg at Boston early m May, brought mtelli- the En- 

clisli exDc- 

gence of the projected expedition against New Netherland. dition. 
Informed of his danger by Isaac Allerton, Stuyvesant in- 29 May. 
stantly summoned a meeting of the council at Fort Am- 
sterdam, to consider the state of the province. The direct- 
or was full of apprehension. He did not expect that " the so May. 

* Thurloe, i., 721, 722 ; ii., 418, 419, 425. The English usually spelled " Fort Orange" 
as the Dutch pronounced it — " Fort Auranea." 

t Col. Rec. Conn., 254 ; Trumbull, i., 217 ; O'Call., ii., 260 ; ante, p. 558. 



584 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XVII. people residing in the country — not even the Dutch" — 
■~~ would assist him in case of an unexpected attack. " The 
English, although they have sworn allegiance, would take 
up arms against us and join the enemy." " To invite 
them to aid us would be bringing the Trojan horse within 
our walls." Shall we abandon Fort Casimir, and recall 
all Dutch subjects from the South River ? Shall we allow 
the King Solomon to sail ? If we do, the people will 
clamor, " for We have no gunners, no musketeers, no sail- 
ors, and scarcely sixteen hundred pounds of powder." 

As a last resource, Stuyvesant proposed that a loan 
should be raised, to repair and garrison Fort Amsterdam. 
The burgomasters and schepens of New Amsterdam, and 
the magistrates of Breuckelen, Amersfoort, and Midwout, 
■2 June. therefore, met with the director and council at the fort. 
The joint meeting resolved to enlist a force of sixty or sev- 
enty men, " in silence, and without beat of drum," and to 
borrow money to pay them, and provide supplies for the 
13 June, city, in case of a siege. It was also resolved " not to aban- 
stordam don Fort Casimir for the present, neither to call its garri- 
state of de- son from there to re-enforce that of this city ; and as to the 
ship King Solomon, she is to remain, to gratify the inhab- 
itants." The patriotism of the people was aroused. The 
fund which the representatives of the commonalty had 
sanctioned was quickly raised. The Dutch inhabitants, 
spade in hand, worked heartily at the fortifications ; and, 
though treason yet lurked within her walls. New Amster- 
dam was soon put in a state of defense. 

In truth, Stuyvesant's government, which had weaned 
from him the affections of the Dutch, had entirely alien- 
ated the English. Many of the adopted citizens of New 
Amsterdam were now observed " stirring to mutiny the 
otherwise well disposed," sending off their effects, commu- 
nicating with privateers, and in active correspondence with 
r jujy. New England. All persons, "of whatever rank," found 
removing their property were, therefore, declare;! ^;ubject 
to banishment and the confiscation of goods, and the au- 
thors and propagators of false reports to severe punishment. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 585 

On Long Island, it was rumored that the Dutch had hired ch. xvii. 
Frenchmen and savages to massacre the inhabitants of 
the English villages ; and the magistrates of Gravesend, 
Heemstede, and Middelburgh were summoned to give an 
account. Loyalty to Holland was renounced as soon asiwiddei- 
news of the proposed expedition from New England ar- cravesenc. 
rived. Middelburgh proposed to "open the ball." Graves- 
end wrote to Boston, offering to seize the shipl King Solo- 
mon, lying at New Amsterdam, and carry her off to Vir- 
ginia. The right of the director and council to pass upon 
nominations was disowned ; and twelve men were appoint- 
ed to manage the affairs of the town, and to choose liiag- 
istrates and local officers.* 

The Protector's letters roused New England to action. -j?^. juno. 
New Haven sent delegates to Boston, and eagerly pledged 
herself to the most zealous efforts. Connecticut promised \^ june. 
two hundred men, and even five hundred, " rather than 
the design should fall." The "council of war" at Plym-2»june 
outh ordered fifty men to be pressed into the service ; and, 
averring that they only concurred in hostile measures 
against their ancient Dutch neighbors at Manhattan " in 
reference unto the national quarrel," intrusted the com- wariikr 
mand of these forces to Captain Miles Standish and Cap- tions'In 
tain Thomas Willett, the latter of whom Stuyvesant had giand. 
so unwisely made one of his negotiators at Hartford, in 
1650. Massachusetts, however, showed less zeal. The 
Greneral Court, declaring their readiness to attend the /^ June. 
Protector's pleasure, as far as they could " with safety to 
the liberty of their consciences and the public peace and 
welfare," simply consented that Sedgwick and Leverett 
might raise five hundred volunteers against the Dutch 
within their jurisdiction.! 

In the mean time, the negotiations for peace between 
Holland and England had been vigorously prosecuted. 
Upon assuming the Protectorate, Oliver, receding from the 

* New Amst. Rec, 1., 465-494 ; Alb. Rec, ix., 132-171 ; x., 71 ; xi., 12 ; O'Call., ii., 
261-265; S. Hazard, Ann. Penn., 151. 

t Hazard, i., 587-589, 595, 596 ; Col. Rec. Conn., 259, 260 ; Hutchinson, i., 168 ; Trum- 
bull, i., 219. 



586 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



1654. 



ch. xvn. parliamentary proposition for a coalition between the com- 
monwealth and the republic, which the States (reneral 
had unanuTiously rejected, proposed more acceptable terms 
to the Dutch ambassadors. New obstacles arose ; but at 
length the treaty, by which England quietly abandoned 
^^ April, most of her pretensions, was definitely signed. The Pro- 
pe^l\e- tector, however, insisted upon the exclusion of the Prince 
sla^d and of Orange from the office of stadtholder as the condition 
of his ratification of the treaty. The States G-eneral would 
have rejected this condition ; but the adroitness of the 
grand pensionary, John de Witt, prevailed with the states 
of Holland. An act of the desired tenor was passed in that 
•2j April, body, and sent to the ambassadors in England. Upon its 
^■''^*-' delivery, Oliver ratified the treaty, and issued a proc- 
lamation restraining all English subjects from committing 
jL May. any further acts of hostility against the Dutch. And or- 
connter- ders wcrc promptly dispatched to Sedgwick and Leverett 
countermanding their previous instructions to surprise the 
Dutch possessions, and requiring them "'to desist from that 
design.'""* 
=^juiie. These important documents reached Boston a few days 
New En- after the arrival of the Protector's commissioners. The 
^^^ delegates of Connecticut and Tsew Haven, assembled at 
Charlestown, apprehending that " a satisfying account 
could not be given of any further acting in this design 
Eigainst the Dutch," reluctantly agreed to dismiss their 
session. The forces intended to act against New Nether- 
land were sent to dislodge the French from the coast of 
Maine ; and for ten years longer the coveted province, the 
possession of which the English government had now vir- 
tually resigned to the Dutch, continued under the sway 
of Holland/t- 

The joyful intelligence of peace between the Fatherland 
and England reaching New Amsterdam a few days after- 

• Basnage, i., 319, 333-339 ; Aitzeroa, iii., 858, 859, 930 ; Verbael van Beveminck, 357- 
422; Thurioe, ii., 219, 23S. 253, 259; Lingard, xi., 187-191 ; Daries, ii.. T2T-r30. The 
State Papers collected by Secretary Thurioe show that the English government had 
constantly the best intelligence of what was going on in Holland. Even the dispatches 
to and from the Dotch ambassadors appear to have been opened and copied. 

t Thurioe, ii., 420 ; Hutchinson, i., 169 ; Hazard, i., 569, 590 ; Bancroft, i., 445. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 587 

ward, was published from the City Hall "with ringing ch.xvii 
of bell." The twelfth of August was appointed as a day 
of general thanksgiving; and Stuyvesant piously called jgjj^ 
on all the inhabitants to praise the Lord, who had se- Jiving-;, 
cured their gates, and blessed their possessions with peace, ^rimi(L"^'^ 
" even here, where the threatened torch of war was light- 
ed, where the waves reached our lips, and subsided only 
through the power of the Almighty.''* 

With the news of peace came also the determination of 
the West India Company upon the various demands of re- 
form which the agent, Le Bleeuw, had carried to Holland. 
His errand not being " suited to the taste" of the direct- 
ors, he was forbidden to return to iVew Netherland. " We 
are unable," \\Trote they to Stuyvesant, " to discover in the is May. 
whole remonstrance one single point to justify complaint." the "mpa 
"You ought to have acted with more vigor against thcvesanr. "^ 
ringleaders of the gang, and not have condescended to an- 
swer protests with protests, and then to have passed all by 
without further notice." " It is, therefore, our express 
command that you punish what has occurred as it de- 
serves, so that others may be deterred in future from fol- 
lowing such examples." As to •• the seditious" of Grraves- 
end, they were to be punished " in an exemplary maimer." 
To the burgomasters and schepens of New Amsterdam the is May. 
directors WTote recommending and charging "that youmedtyau- 

1 , 1 ■ , 1 J 11 1 . thorities of 

conduct yourselves quietly and peaceably, submit your- New Am 
selves to the government placed over you, and in no wise ^ "^"^ *"" 
allow yourselves to hold particular convention with the 
English or others in matters of form and deliberation on 
affairs of state, which do not appertain to you, and what 
is yet worse, attempt an alteration in the state and its 
government." 

The directors at the same time consented that the office 
of city schout should be separated from that of the provin- 
cial fiscal, but they would not give the burgomasters and 
schepens the power of appointment. A commission was Kuyter ap- 
accordingly inclosed for Jochem Pietersen Kuyter, who schom. ' * 

* Alb. Rec, viii., 121 : ix., ISO; New Amst. Rec, i., 495. 



588 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. xvii. had formerly suffered so much from Stuyvesant's vindio- 
tiveness, and to whom it was perhaps now felt that some 
■ amends should be made. The city authorities were also 
required to pay the public salaries out of the wine and beer 
excise ; and, if permitted by the provincial government, 
they might impose other taxes " with the consent of the 
commonalty." They were empowered to mortgage and 
convey real estate within the limits of the city, and were 
City Hall granted the use of the City Hall. " We have decreed that 
*" * ' a seal for the city of New Amsterdam shall be prepared 
and forwarded," added the directors ; but as for arms and 
ammunition, they must be obtained from the provincial 
government. The city authorities, gratefully acknowl- 
edging the "benefits" which the Amsterdam Chamber had 
£7 July, bestowed, at the same time earnestly justified their own 
Reply of conduct, and repudiated the charge of disaffection. " We 
ihoHuL'*"' have never thought of any thing," wrote they, "but of 
discharging our duties to the utmost ;" and of exhibiting, 
"to the best of our ability, the situation and necessity of 
this country." 

Kuyter, however, did not live to receive the tardy atone- 
ment by which the company proposed to wipe out the 
memory of Stuyvesant's early tyranny. Not long after 
Kuyter his appointment as a schepen of New Amsterdam, he had 
been murdered by the Indians. The office of city schout 
21 July, was therefore offered by Stuyvesant to Jacques Cortelyou, 
a tutor in Van Werckhoven's family. But Cortelyou, ow- 
ing to scruples respecting his instructions, declined the ap- 
pointment. The burgomasters and schepens, finding that 
no other steps were taken, urged that the schout might 
be appointed " in conformity with the orders" of the Cham- 
ber at Amsterdam. Yet, notwithstanding all the efforts 
Van Tien- of thc municipal authorities, Stuyvesant obstinately per- 
iinued as" sistcd iu Continuing the two offices of city schout and pro- 
vincial fiscal in the hands of Van Tienhoven.* 

* Alb. Rec, iv., 135-M3; viii., 96-99; ix., 174; New Amsterdam Uec, i., 497-506, 
O'Call.. ii., 265-2fi8, 429; l)oi-t. Hist. N. Y., iii., 397; Valentine's Manual, 1847, 373; 
1848, 378. Not long afterward Cortelyou began the settlement of New Utrecht, on Long 
Island ipost, p. (393. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 589 

Up to this time there had been such " daily confusion" ch.xvii. 
amonsr the ferrymen on Manhattan Island, that the in- 

' i f* KA 

habitants often waited "whole days before they could ob- j 7u,y 
tain a passage, and then not without danger, and at anj^^nULa 
exorbitant price." The director and council, therefore, or- •'^s"'*''"^- 
dained that " no person shall ferry from one side of the 
river to the other without a license from the magistrates ;" 
that " the ferryman shall always keep proper servants and 
boats, and a lodge on both sides of the river, to protect 
passengers from the weather ;" that he should not " be 
compelled to ferry any thing over before he is paid," nor 
" be obliged to ferry during a tempest or when he can not 
sail ;" and it was expressly provided that " the director 
and members of the council, the court messenger, and 
other persons invested with authority, or dispatched by 
the executive, are to be exempt from toll."* 

In a few days a new difficulty arose. Stuyvesant, com- 2 August. 
plaining that the burgomasters and schepens had beencuuies 
" prodigal of fine promises, without any succeeding action, municipal 
during the last year," required them to make provision for mem of 
the maintenance both of the political and ecclesiastical sterdam. 
ministers, and of the troops which the company had sent 
over in the last ships, as well as those which were soon 
expected ; and to give an account of the income and dis- 
bursement of the excise which the city had received. The 
account was promptly rendered, and the city magistrates 10 Augu.«it. 
informed the director that, having estimated the last and 
present year's expenditure for " outside and inside works" 
at sixteen thousand guilders, they would make up their 
quota along with " the other courts of justice ;" and they 
agreed to contribute three thousand guilders as their pro- 
portion, provided they should be authorised to lay a tax 
on all real estate under their jurisdiction. But Stuyve- 
sant was dissatisfied. The municipal authorities had not 
paid the salaries of the clergymen, and besides, they had 

* Alb. Rec, vii., 267 ; ix., 163 ; Val. Man. for 1848, 385, 386. The rates of toll were as 
follows : for a wagon and horses, 2 guilders 10 stuyvcrs, or one dollar ; a one-horse wag- 
on, 2 guilders, or 80 cents ; a horse or horned beast, one guilder 10 stuyvers, or 50 cents ; 
" a savage male or female," 6 stuyvers ; "each other person," 3 stuyvers. 



590 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. xvn. credited their account with the expenses of the agent, Le 
~_ Bleeuw, whom they had sent to Holland. The provincial 
13 \ugust government, therefore, determined to resume the control of 
the surrendered excise, and farm it out for the benefit of 
U4 August, the company. A special war tax of twenty stuyvers on 
laid. every morgen of arable land, the hundredth penny on each 
house and lot in New Amsterdam and Beverwyck, one 
guilder on every horned beast, and ten per cent, on all 
merchandise exported during the season, was soon after- 
ward decreed by the provincial government, to meet the 
loan which had been contracted in the spring. Under 
these circumstances, the burgomasters and schepens again 
31 August, addressed the director and council. They formally offered 
to support, at the expense of the city, one of the ministers, 
a " foresinger," to act also as schoolmaster, and a dog-whip- 
per or sexton, of the ecclesiastical officers ; and of the civil 
department, the schout, both the burgomasters, the five 
schepens, the secretary, and the court messenger. With 
respect to the support of the soldiers, the burghers were 
not able to contribute, and should be excused ; they had 
already " continually engaged in the general works, sub- 
mitting to watchings and other heavy burdens," and had 
already proved their bravery and willingness in times of 
calamity. But the provincial government was still dis- 
satisfied. The city authorities had expended the moneys 
borrowed in defenses for the city, and not in repairs to 
Fort Amsterdam ; they had not fixed their quota of three 
thousand guilders high enough ; and they had failed in 
their undertakings respecting subsidies and salaries. The 
16 Sept. director and council, therefore, insisted upon resuming the 
resumed by excisc. It was farmed out to the highest bidder ; the sal- 
sant. aries of the clergymen were paid up ; and the city govern- 
22 Sept. ment again appealed to the Amsterdam Chamber.* 
16 April. Stuyvesant had, meanwhile, revisited Fort Orange, and, 
ForTor" to put au end to the unsettled question of jurisdiction, had 
formally demanded of the patroon's officers to fix the point 

♦ Alb. Rec, ix., 182, 189, 204-224; New Amsterdam Rec., i., 507, 517; ii., 16-18; 
O'Call., ii., 269, 270; Valentine's Manual, 1847, 375; 1848, 378. 



ange. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 591 

of departure for the boundaries of the colonie according to ch. xvii. 
the charter of Freedoms. These boundaries, however, were 
not to include "the limits of Fort Orange." But the oo- ' ' 
lonial officers, bemg uninstruoted by their superiors in 
Holland, asked delay. The next month fresh difficulties 
occurred. Commissary Dyckman was ordered to levy an i3 May. 
excise upon all liquors retailed " within a circuit of one 
thousand rods from the fort ;" and the right to collect tithes 
within that district was also asserted on behalf of the West 
India Company. But the colonial officers issued orders to 
refuse the payment of the excise, alleging that the provin- 
cial government did not contribute any thing toward their 
local expenses. And as to the claim of tithes, neither the Taxes at 

Bcvcr* 

colonists nor the inhabitants of Beverwyck " could be in- wyck. 
duced, either by monitions or persuasions, to pay them."* 

The peace with the French, which the Mohawks hadThciro- 
confirmed in the autumn of 1653 by the restoration of the French. 
Father Poncet, was more the result of policy than of a de- 
sire to be at rest. They were anxious to attract the Hu- 
rons from the north to supply the places of the warriors 
whom they had lost. In this sentiment some of the other 
Iroquois tribes participated, especially the Onondagas, who 
began to feel unfriendly toward the Mohawks for treating 
them ill when they passed through that country to the 
Dutch at Fort Orange. The Onondagas, therefore, sought 
the friendship of the French, and sent an embassy to the 5 Feb. 
governor of Canada, asking that a Jesuit mission might be dagas. 
established in their country.! Father Simon le Moyne, 
who had already had eighteen years experience as a mis- 
sionary among the Hurons, accordingly set out from Que- 2 juiy. 
bee for Onondaga, in the hope "of winning the whole West 
and North to Christendom." Ascending the Saint Law- 
rence, and coasting along Ontario, or "the Lake of the 
Iroquois," he landed on the southern shore, and visited the 

* Alb. Rec, iv., 213 ; ix., 121-129 ; O'Call., ii., 304 ; New Amst. Rec, i., 419. 

t " The word Onnonta, which in the Iroquois tongue signifies a mountain, has given 
the name to the village called Onnonta6, or, as others call it, Onnontagu6, because it is 
on a mountain, and the people who inhabit it consequently style themselves Onnonta6- 
ronnons, or Onnontagu6ronnons." — Relation, 1657-8, 30; i., Doc. Hist. N. Y., 44; ante, 
p. 83, 564. 



592 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XVII. principal village of the Onondagas, where he was treated 
" as a brother," Deputies from three of the neighboring 
10 August, tribes soon met in council. A chief, speaking for "live 
Moyneaf eutli-c natious," invltcd the French to establish a settle- 
onondaga. ment ou the banks of the lake, and to fbc themselves " in 
12 August, the heart of the country." With pious joy, the Jesuit Fa- 
ther now recovered the New Testament once belonging to 
Breboeuf, and a book of devotion used by Garnier. Just 
before his return to Canada, Le Moyne immortalized his 
name by discovering what was afterward to form one of 
16 August, the largest sources of the wealth of New York. Coming 
of the Salt to thc entrance of a small lake, full of salmon-trout and 
other fish, he tasted the water of a spring which his In- 
dian guides did not dare to drink, "saying that there was 
a demon within which renders it offensive." The Jesuit, 
however, found it to be "a fountain of salt water," from 
which he actually made salt " as natural as that of the 
sea." Taking with him "a sample," Le Moyne descend- 
ed the Oneida, and, retracing his way along Lake Ontario 
n Sept. and the Saint Lawrence, arrived safely at (Quebec with 
the news of his great discovery.* 

The Mohawks, in the mean time, had sent a deputation 
4 July. to Canada. Findinj? that they had been anticipated bv 

Jealousy of i^, , , ii- • 

the Mo- the Onondagas, they openly expressed their vexation. 
"We of the five nations," said their orator, "have but one 
cabin, we make but one fire, and we have always dwelt 
under the same roof." " You do not enter by the door, 
which is on the first floor. We Mohawks are that door. 
You enter by the roof and chimney, for you begin with 
the Onondagas." The irritation of the Mohawks was 
promptly appeased ; and the embassy returned with the 
assurance that Father Le Moyne would visit their valley.t 

May. A crisis had now occurred on thc South River. On 

reaching New Sweden, Rising, in violation of his instruc- 

* Relation, 1G53-4, p. 13, 14, 51-97 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., i., 33-44. In Clark's Onondaga, 
i, 130-138, Le Moyne's visit is erroneously dated in 1653 ; and the reference, in vol. ii., 
p. 8, to the Relation of 1045-6, should be to that of 1655-6, as quoted in vol. i., p. 150. 

t Relation, 1653-4, p. 54 ; Creuxius, 705-716 ; Charlevoix, i., 271, 316-320; Bancroft, 
iii., 142 ; O'Call., ii., 303 ; Hildreth, ii., 88 ; ante, p. 82. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 593 

tions, determined at all hazards to possess himself of Fort ch. xvii. 
Casimir. Grerrit Bikker, the commandant of the Dutch 
fort, perceiving a strange sail in the offing, sent Adriaen j^i^i^g ai 
van Tienhoven with a small party "to investigate." The 'ij'f,,g °"'^ 
next day the messengers returned with news "that it wasfjy'fg^; 
a Swedish ship full of people, with a new governor, and 
that they wanted to have possession of this place and the 
fort, as they said it was lying on the Swedish govern- 
ment's land." The Dutch residents called on Bikker to 
defend the fort; but the commander only replied, "What 
can I do? — there is no powder." An hour afterward, a 
boat from the Swedish ship landed twenty or thirty sol- 
diers, headed by Swen Schute. Bikker received them civ- 
illy on the beach, and " bade them welcome as friends." 
But the Swedes, finding the gate open, hurried into the 
fort, and made themselves masters of the place. Van 
Tienhoven and another commissioner were, however, al- 
lowed to go on board the Swedish ship to obtain an ex- 
planation. Rising informed them that he was obeying 
the orders of his government, whose representative at the 
Hague had been told that neither the States G-eneral nor 
the West India Company had authorized the erection of 
this Dutch fort on the territory of the Swedish crown. 
Two shotted guns were then fired over the fort as a sig- capture of 
nal, and the ten or twelve Dutch soldiers in garrison were mi. 
immediately disarmed. Seven or eight of these, with Van 
Tienhoven, were sent to Manhattan ; the others, with Bik- 
ker, remained, and took an oath of allegiance to Sweden. 
The capture of Fort Casimir happening on Trinity Sun- 
day, the name of the post was changed to " Trefalldig- Named 
heet," or Trinity. It was soon rebuilt under the superin- uy^y u"' 
tendence of Lindstrom the engineer, who also constructed 
a large map, including both sides of the river as far as San- 
kikan, or the Falls at Trenton. Swen Schute was install- 
ed as commander of Fort Trinity ; and Rising, after an- 
nouncing to Stuy vesant his arrival and the capture of the 27 May. 
Dutch fort, relieved Pappegoya of his temporary authority, ^ •'""®- 
and assumed the government of New Sweden. A meet- 

Pp 



594 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



1654. 

, I July. 



ing was soon held with the Indian sachems at Tinnicum, 
and a treaty of friendship was arranged with the natives. 
The next month, Rising informed his government that, 
from seventy persons whom he found in New Sweden, 
the population there had now risen to three hundred and 
sixty-eight, "including the Hollanders and others." "I 
hope," he added, " we may be able to preserve them in 
order and in duty, and to constrain them, if necessary. I 
will do in this respect all that depends upon me. We 
will also endeavor to shut up the river."* 
June. The news of the surprise of Fort Casimir reached Stuy- 

vesant in the midst of his preparations to defend New 
Netherland from the expected attack of the English. It 
was out of the question to attempt the recovery of that 
distant post, in the threatening aspect of public affairs at 



July. New Amsterdam ; but the mortified director took care to 

;uy' 

iiit'i 

port. 



.sant'sre- communicatc to his superiors in Holland all the details of 



Bikker's pusillanimous conduct in " this dishonorable sur- 
render of the fort."t 
22 Sept. Not long afterward, an opportunity of retaliating was 

ship seized afforded to Stuyvesant. A Swedish ship, the (jrolden 
tan. Shark, in charge of Hendrick van Elswyck, bound to the 

South River, entered Sandy Hook Bay by mistake, and 
anchored behind Staten Island. Discovering his error, the 
captain sent a boat up to Manhattan for a pilot. The 
director instantly ordered the boat's crew to the guard- 
as Sept. house ; and sent soldiers down to seize the ship, and bring 

the factor a prisoner up to Fort Amsterdam. 
1 oitober. Stuyvcsaut now invited the Swedish governor to visit 
New Amsterdam, "to arrange and settle some unexpect- 
ed differences ;" and promised him " a cordial reception, 
with comfortable lodgings, and a courteous treatment." 
But Rising, preferring his lodgings at Tinnicum, declined 
the Dutch director's proffered hospitality. The Shark was 
therefore detained, and her cargo removed to the compa- 

* llol. Doc, viii., 45, 4C, 85-90, 106, 107; Alb. Rec, ix., 242 ; Acreliiis, 414; Caiiipa- 
nius, 76-78, 82 ; O'Call., ii., 274, 275 ; S. Hazard, Ann. Penn., 148-155, 158. Bozman, ii., 
489, 490, mi.sled by Chalmers' absurd account, 032, falls into a series of very curious 
blunders. t IIol. Doc, viii., 88 ; Alb. Rec, ix., 271. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 595 

ny's magazine, "until a reciprocal restitution shall have ch.xvii. 
been made." The Swedish factor sent a long protest to~~~~~ 
Stuyvesant, complaining of his conduct, and defending 57 October, 
that of Rising ; and the Dutch authorities, in reply, com- 
mented severely upon the proceedings of the Swedish gov- 
ernor, who had surprised Fort Casimir " at a moment when 
we and our nation were in great distress, and utterly in- 
capable to resist at the same time two such powerful neigh- * 
bors in their attacks from two opposite quarters."* 

In the mean time, news had reached Fort Amsterdam settlement 
that some Englishmen from the New Haven colony had at west- 
begun a settlement near "Vredeland," in West Chester, 
where Anne Hutchinson had formerly lived. The leader 
of these persons was Thomas Pell, of Norfolk, an adherent 
to the royal cause, who, on emigrating to New Haven, had 
refused to swear allegiance to the colonial authorities, and 
had been twice fined for contempt. Fiscal van Tienho- 
ven was, therefore, sent to forbid the English intruders 5 Nov. 
from settling themselves on the lands " long before bought 
and paid for, near Vredeland." But Pell, disregarding 
Stuyvesant's mandate, soon afterward purchased from the 11 Nov. 
sachem, "Ann Hook," and five others of his tribe, a large 
tract, including the present town of Pelham, in West Ches- 
ter, and began to build. t 

A tract of land on Oyster Bay, which from the time of oyster 
the Hartford treaty New England seems to have consid- 
ered a debatable territory, having been purchased, in 16f53, 
from the Sachem of Mattinnecock, by Wright, Mayo, Lev- 
eridge, and several other Englishmen from Sandwich, the 
purchasers applied to New Haven to be received under 
that jurisdiction. But Stuyvesant, viewing the settlement 
as an encroachment upon the Dutch boundary, complained 
to the New England authorities. No notice, however, was 
taken of the complaint, and the English intruders remain- 
ed quietly in their new settlement. 

* Alb. Rec, ix., 236, 241-246, 263-272; S. Hazard, Ann. Penn., 155-166; New Amst. 
Rec, li. 

t Alb. Rec, ix., 275; Bolton's West Chester, i.. 515-522; ii., 156; O'Call., ii., 283; 
ante, p. 366. 



596 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch.xvii. The seditious proceedings at Grravesend, which the 
~^ West India Company had directed to be punished " in an 
03 ^^^ ' exemplary manner," had meanwhile been chastised by the 
sam at removal from the magistracy of the arch traitors Baxter 
Gravesend. ^^^ Hubbard. To allay any popular discontent, Stuyve- 
sant now visited that settlement in person, and became 
the guest of Lady Moody. The people were called to- 
gether, and told that they might, if they pleased, nomin- 
ate new magistrates, or might remain until the time for 
the next election under the existing board, consisting of 
William Wilkins, commissary, John Maurice, sheriff, and 
John Tilton, town clerk. Or, a fourth member might be 
immediately added to the court, if it should be desired. 
But the people preferred that things should remain as they 
were for the present ; and Stuyvesant, recommending to 
them " to unite with their fear of Grod the honor of their 
magistrates, and to pay obedience to both," returned to 
New Amsterdam, in the vain hope that sedition had been 
quelled, and covetousness repressed, and the Dutch terri- 
tory effectually secured against the plotting of its English 
inhabitants.* 

The internal condition of New Netherland was now 
such, in the director's judgment, as to warrant him in 
leaving the province and undertaking a voyage to the 
West Indies for the purpose of establishing a trade with 
those islands. In taking this step, however, he acted en- 
tirely upon his own responsibility, and " without the 
knowledge or approbation" of the Chamber at Amsterdam. 
8 Dec. A "gay repast" was given to him at the City Hall, where 
coat of he delivered to the presiding burgomaster, Martin Kregier, 
New Ain- the paiutcd coat of arms, the seal, and the silver signet of 
New Amsterdam, which had just been received from the 
directors in Holland. The city government again endeav- 
ored to obtain from him the right to nominate proper per- 
sons from among whom the new magistrates for the next 
year should be chosen. Stuyvesant, however, declined ; 

* Alb. Rec, ix., 75, 106, 1G6, 230, 256, 287 ; New Haven Rcc, i., 63, 96 ; O'Call., 11 , 
267, 281, 282; Thompson's L. I., i., 485; ii., 173. 



Bterdam. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 597 

and the old board was continued, with AUard Anthony as ch. xvii 
a new burt^omaster, and Johannes Nevius as schepen. ~~TT~ 
Leaving the government of the province in the hands of 34 Dec. 
De Sille and his colleagues, the director set sail for the g^us for tii< 
West Indies on Christmas eve.* J^el^' ^"" 

The burgomasters and schepens, finding that a better 165-5. 
police was necessary, now appointed the notary, Dirck van vfn'sche!- 
Schelluyne, to be the high constable of New Amsterdam, 'constable '' 
and furnished him with detailed instructions for the exe- "[irdmif " 
cution of his duties. The City Hall, which had hitherto 
been encumbered by the storage of a quantity of salt, and 
by various " lodgers," was ordered to be repaired and 1 March. 
"lined with boards;" and its former tenants were notified repaired, 
to depart, " so that the Stadt Huys be not wholly ruined 
by the salt, nor occupied by others. "t 

Serious embarrassments annoyed the provincial council 
from the moment the administration fell into its hands. 
Baxter, who, on being superseded in his magistracy at 
Grravesend, had gone to New England, returned to Long 
Island early the next year, and spread reports that the Pro- January, 
tector had ordered the governors of the New Ensrland col-ancesat 

iir-1 -1 ^ r itC Gravesend. 

onies to take the whole 01 that island from the Dutch, and 
by force if necessary. Fiscal Van Tienhoven was there- 
fore sent, with Burgomaster Anthony, to the English vil- 
lages to quell the threatened disturbances. The commis- 
sioners reached Grravesend just as Baxter, Hubbard, and 9 March. 
Grrover were hoisting the British flag, and reading a sedi- Hubbard, 
tious paper declaring that "we, as free-born British sub-ver. ' 
jects, claim and assume to ourselves the laws of our na- 
tion and Republic of England over this place, as to our 
persons and property, in love and harmony, according to 
the general peace between the two states in Europe and 
this country." The chief traitors, Baxter and Hubbard, 

* Alb. Rec, iv., 136, 151, 180; viii., 98; ix.,297, 298, 306; x.,26,70; New Amst. Rec, 
ii., 59, 60 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii., 397 ; Val. Man., 1851, 420. The city seal consisted of 
the arms of Old Amsterdam — three crosses saltier— vfith a beaver for a crest. On the 
mantle above were the initial letters G. W. C, for " Chartered West India Company," 
to which the island of Manhattan especially belonged. Underneath was the legend 
" SiGiLLUM Amstellodamensis IN Novo Belgio," and around the border was a wreath 
of laurel. t New Amst. Rec, ii., 76, 77-81, 92 ; Val. Man., 1848, 384. 



598 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XVII. were instantly arrested, and sent to the keep at Fort Am- 
~ sterdam, where they remained imprisoned until the next 
axtfr and jear. The time for the election of new magistrates, which 



liaxtpr an 

Hubl)ard 

nnpnsoned 



Hubhard j^^^j been postponed the previous autumn, was near at 



hand. But the " loyal inhabitants," thinking that the 

■■.>•^ March, public miiid was too much excited, just then petitioned 
that it might be further deferred "until it shall please 
Grod Almighty to bless our governor the director general 
with a safe return." 

<)y.sterBay. The English who had settled themselves at Oyster Bay, 
notwithstanding Stuyvesant's complaint, had continued 
during the winter in possession of their purchase. To as- 

i3 March, scrt the jurisdiction of the Dutch, a protest was, therefore, 
served upon Leveridge and his companions, threatening 
them with legal proceedings if they persisted in their un- 
lawful occupation. 

In spite of the director's warning in the previous au- 
tumn, Pell's colonists at West Chester had also continued 

lu April, to occupy tlicir settlement. The council, therefore, sent 
their marshal, Claes Van Elsland, with a protest. The En- 

•22 April, glish arms, carved on a board, were found han^ins; on a 

The En- » ' ' n » 

shsii set- tree ; and armed men appeared at the creek to prevent the 

ilcrs al . 

West dies- landiiif? of the Dutch messenger. " I am cold, let me sfo 

tcr ' o 

ashore," said Van Elsland, as he sprung on the beach, 
followed by "Albert the Trumpeter." The English com- 
mander came up with a pistol in his hand, and accompa- 
nied by eight or nine armed men, to whom Van Elsland 
read his protest. "I can not understand Dutch," replied 
the Englishman ; " when the fiscal sends English, I will 
answer. "We expect the determination on the boundaries 
by the next vessel. Time will tell whether we shall be 
under the Dutch government or the Parliament. Until 
then we remain here, under the state of England."^'*' 
Fort Or- Early this year. Commissary Dyckman, whose violent 
conduct at Fort Orange had already given occasion of sus- 
picion, became insane ; and the local magistrates were 

* Alb. Rec, X., 8-10, 29-32 ; Hol. Doc, ix., 165, 232, 261-267 ; O'Call., ii., 280-283, 342 . 
Bolton's West Chester, ii., 157. 



an go 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 599 

Obliged to inform the provincial government of his condi- ch. xvii. 
tion. Johannes de Decker, a young man of high charac- ^^ 
ter, who had formerly been a public notary at Schiedam, 
had just arrived from Holland, with a letter from the di- April. 
rectors recommending him for the first vacant "honorable 
office." The provincial authorities at New Amsterdam, 
therefore, appointed De Decker to succeed Dyckman as 21 June. 

1 1 ■ -n r^ 11 1 ^'^ Decker 

vice-director, "to preside m Fort Orange and the village appointed 

^ . commissii- 

of Beverwyck, in the Court of Justice of the commissaries ry at Fon 

. . . . Orange. 

aforesaid, to administer all the affairs of police and justice 
as circumstances may require, in conformity to the instruc- 
tions given by the director general and council, and to pro- 
i,Tiote these for the best service of the country and the pros- 
perity of the inhabitants."* 

Gravesend had now become so tranquil, that the provin- 
cial government felt safe in directing the schout and Lady is .Tune. 
Moody, "as the oldest and first patentee," together with Gnlvesenu. 
the other inhabitants, to nominate their magistrates. The 
nomination was made, and sent to Fort Amsterdam for ap- 8 juiy. 
proval. But the Dutch settlers protested against a con- 9 Juiy. 
firmation. They had not been duly notified of the elec- 
tion ; traitors, and those who had fled the country " tor- 
tured by their consciences," had voted ; no hired Dutch- 
man had been permitted to vote in the absence of his mas- 
ter ; persons had declared that if any Dutchmen were 
elected they would leave the country ; and obedience to 
magistrates who had been exiled or imprisoned for their 
misconduct was required, which the Dutch inhabitants 
would not promise to yield, unless compatible with the 
welfare of the state. The council, however, considering 
the magistrates to have been nominated by "a majority Election 
of the inhabitants," from motives of public policy confirm- 
ed the election. The West India Company, upon receiv- 
ing intelligence of Baxter's unexpected treachery, express- 

* Alb. Rec, iv., 171, 207 ; x., 68 ; O'Call., ii., 305. De Decker revisited Holland in the 
winter of 1056, and in May, 1657, returned to New Netherland as receiver general and 
member of the council. lie was one of the Dutch commissioners who signed the capitu- 
lation to the English in 1664 : and many of his descendants are still living in New Jersey, 
where his name survives in that of the settlement of" Deckerville." See posf, 625. 



600 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XVII. ed their astonishment, and ordered Stuyvesant to keep 
73~him and his accomplices in confinement. And strict in- 

26 May structions were added "to avoid bestowing any office of 

'i'ons"ofthet'^"^ist upon foreigners who are not interested in the coun- 

^^^pg"^'^ try, and who but seldom can deserve our confidence."* 

The peace with England now induced the hope that the 

open question of the boundary between New Netherland 

u]^A and New England might be arranged ; and the College 

17 Sept. of the XIX., being desired to send to the Hague a con- 

ary ques- dcuscd Statement of the Dutch title, immediately submit- 
ted to the States Greneral a memorial, accompanied by a 
map of New Netherland. These documents, together with 
copies of the papers which the company had communica- 

2u Sept. ted the previous November, were transmitted to the am- 
bassadors at London, with instructions to arrange the 
boundary question upon the basis which they proposed. t 

9 October. But the ambassadors found themselves surrounded with 
difficulties. The West India Company's papers were dis- 
covered to be defective ; they did not even contain a copy of 
the provisional treaty at Hartford in 1650. In the former 
discussion, the English had declined to consider the bound- 
ary question ; and it was now clear that nothing would 
be done by the government at Whitehall without the con- 

27 Nov. sent of New England. Under these circumstances, the am- 
bassadors recommended a convention, referring the whole 
question to the arbitration of the Dutch and English co- 
lonial authorities in North America ; and this suggestion 

3 Dec. was communicated to the West India Company. The 
directors, however, had not yet received a copy of the 

30 Dec. Hartford treaty ; but they sent to the States General a 
compilation from various papers in their archives, showing 
the priority of the Dutch discovery and possession of New 
Netherland, explaining the "unjust and violent" usurpa- 
tions of the English within their territories, and intimat- 
ing that although they thought the question could be best 

* Alb. Rec, iv., 189 ; x., 67-76 ; xi., 6-21 ; O'Call., ii., 281 ; Thompson's L. I., ii., 173. 

t Hoi. Doc, vii., 104-107 ; Vcrbael van Bcverninck, 602 ; Lambrechtsen, 106. I on- 
deavored to procure the map sent to the ambassadors at London on this occasion, but 
without success. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 601 

settled in England, upon the basis of " uti possidetis ita ch. xvii. 
possideatis," they were willing to refer it back to the re- 
spective colonial governments. These documents were all , j^nyj ' 
sent to the Dutch ambassador at London. By the next 
ships, the Amsterdam Chamber wrote to Stuyvesant to be 26 Apni. 
upon his guard against the English on Long Island, andtionsto 
ordered a fort to be constructed "at the east, on the mostsam. 
eligible spot." The director was also censured for not 
having sent over to Holland any of the official documents 26 May. 
respecting the Hartford treaty. The States G-eneral again 31 May. 
calling to their ambassador's attention the boundary ques- 
tion, Nieuport had an interview with Thurloe. But the 4 June. 

1-11 1TVT T-111 !•• 11 Negotiation 

secretary replied, that the New England authorities "had with the 

1 • • r • ?i „ English 

sent him as yet no information at all ; and that, upon the govem- 
sole allegations of one side, the Lord Protector, having no 
knowledge of the affair, could not be expected to come to 
a positive decision.* 

Upon receiving intelligence of the " infamous surrender" 1654. 
of their Fort Casimir, the Amsterdam directors immedi- orders Vor 
ately ordered Stuyvesant to "exert every nerve to avenge ery o^Fort 
that injury, not only by restoring affairs to their former 
situation, but by driving the Swedes from every side of 
the river." Two armed ships, the King Solomon and the 
(3-reat Christopher, were put into commission ; the drum 
was "beaten daily" in the streets of Amsterdam for volun- 
teers ; and orders were given for the instant arrest of Bik- 
ker, who had " acted in his office very unfaithfully, yea, 
treacherously." The next week the directors again wrote 23 Nov. 
that they hardly knew whether they were " more aston- 
ished at the audacious enterprise of the Swedes in taking 
our tort on the South River, or at the cowardly surrender 
of it by our commander, which is nearly insufferable ;" 
and Stuyvesant was directed to send over authenticated 
copies of all documents relating to that occurrence, and to 
the Dutch title to the territory. 

The proceedings of the municipal authorities of New 

* Hoi. Doc, vii., 108-174 ; Alb. Rec, jv., 177, 167 ; Thurloe, ii., 638 ; iii., 477 ; Bever- 
ninck, 612, 688, 693; S. Hazard, Ann. Penn., 172. 



be en- 
forced. 



602 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

cu. XVII. Amsterdam respecting the excise were at the same time 

severely criticised. Stuyvesant was reproved for not hav- 
1654 • ■ 

23 Nov ^^^o "made use of his authority," and was instructed to en- 

New 'Im-^^ force the collection of taxes for the benefit of the company 
sterdamto gygji against the will of the people, "so that these men 
shall no longer indulge themselves in the visionary dream 
that contributions can not be levied without their consent." 
1G55. The next spring, the directors commended Stuyvesant's 
•26 April, "prudence" in arresting Elswyck's vessel and cargo, but 
expressed their " small contentment" that he had under- 
taken his voyage to the West Indies without their " knowl- 
edge or approbation." A large vessel of thirty-six guns, 
"the Vigilance," was also chartered from the burgomas- 
ters of Amsterdam, and added to the squadron already 
26 May. scnt to Ncw Nctherlaud. Besides dispatching this force, 
against the the directors renewed their instructions to the provincial 
government to engage vessels at Manhattan, compelling, 
if necessary, the owners and schippers to submission, as 
"no excuse nor private interests can be admitted." At the 
same time, the orders of November wejre somewhat modi- 
fied, and Stuyvesant was directed to allow the Swedes "to 
hold the land on which Fort Christina is built, with a 
garden to cultivate the tobacco, because it appears that 
they made this purchase with the previous consent of the 
company, provided said Swedes will conduct themselves 
as good subjects of our government."* 
26 May. A Special dispatch was also addressed to the burgomas- 

theburgo- tcrs and schepens of New Amsterdam, enjoining submis- 
NewAm- sion, and announcing that as they had applied a part of 

slerdam. , . i-iiii ii 

the excises which had been granted them in paying an 
agent to Holland, and in other private aflairs, "to the in- 
jury and discontent of the company," that revenue should 
now be restored to the provincial treasury. t 

The purpose of Stuyvesant's voyage to the West Indies 
had, meanwhile, been entirely defeated through Crom- 
well's jealous policy. A few days before the director sailed 

* Alb. Rec, iv., 157-159, 163,168, 180, 186, 191, 193; O'Call., ii., 284 ; S. Hazard, Ann. 
Penn., 168-170, 178, 179. t New Amst. Rec, ii., 172-174 ; Alb. Hoc, viii., 125. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 603 



1655. 



from Manhattan, commissioners were appointed, " under ch. xvh. 
the broad seal of England," for the management of British ' 
affairs in the West Indies. These commissioners, on their 
arrival, laid an embargo upon all the shipping they found ; 
and eight Dutch vessels, including the three which Stuy- 
vesant had brought from New Netherland, were seized i7 Feb. 
at Barbadoes, notwithstanding "the islanders" there did in the west 

Indies. 

" much desire commerce with strangers." Stuyvesant at- 
tempted "to plead the cause of his countrymen;" but the 
English, who were more in fear that he should discover le March, 
their weakness "than all the world besides," continued 
the embargo, and " spoiled the sport" of a " fair trade." 
After several months delay, finding the English inexora- 
ble, the disappointed director succeeded in leaving Barba- 
does, and returned to New Amsterdam about the middle ii juiy. 
of the summer.* 

Stuyvesant lost no time in executing the orders of his 
superiors to reduce the Swedes. As both he and Coun- 
selor La Montague were unwell, Vice-director De Sille and leAugust. 
Fiscal Van Tienhoven were appointed to superintend the tion^J*" 
preparations, in conjunction with " the valiant Frederick swedes. 
De Koninck," captain of the flag-ship " The Balance." The 
twenty-fifth day of August was solemnly set apart as a 
day of fasting and prayer, " to implore the only bountiful 
God that it may please him to bless the projected enter- 
prise, undertaken only for the greater security, extension, 
and consolidation of this province, and to render it pros- 
perous and successful, to the glory of his name." An in- 
vitation was given "to any individuals loving the increase, 19 August. 
welfare, and security of this now flourishing province of Enust 
New Netherland," to enlist in the expedition at reasona- 
ble wages, with a promise that all the wounded should re- 
ceive " due compensation." Proper pilots were engaged ; 24 August 
each ship in harbor was required to furnish two men, and 
supplies of ammunition and provisions ; and three North 
River yachts were chartered. A French privateer, L'Es- 
perance, which had just arrived at New Amsterdam, was 31 August. 

* Thurloe, iii., 16, 142, 251 ; iv., 634; O'Call., ii., 285. 



604 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XVII. also engaged for the expedition. The question whether 
the Jewish residents should be enlisted was decided by 

Jews taxed, declaring them exempt, and by levying instead a tax of 
sixty-five stuyvers a month upon all between sixteen and 
sixty years of age.* 

5 Sept. On the first Sunday in September, "after the sermon," 

the exuedi- the sQuadrou of scvcn vessels, with a force on board of be- 

tinn. '■ 

tween six and seven hundred men, set sail for the South 
River. Stuyvesant commanded the expedition in person, 
and was accompanied by Vice-director De Sille and Dom- 
ine Megapolensis. The next afternoon they anchored be- 
fore Fort Elsingburg, which was in ruins and deserted. 
Here the squadron was reviewed, and divided into five 

10 Sept. sections. Wind and tide being propitious, on Friday morn- 

ing the Dutch sailed up just beyond Fort Casimir, and 
landed their forces. Stuyvesant instantly dispatched En- 
sign Smit, with a drummer, toward the fort, " to claim 
the direct restitution of our own property." Swen Schute, 
the Swedish commandant, though re-enforced from Fort 
Christina, now asked permission to communicate with Ri- 
sing. This was refused ; the passes between Fort Casimir 
and Fort Christina were occupied by fifty Dutch soldiers ; 
and the Swedes were twice summoned to surrender. A 
delay till early the next morning was "humbly suppli- 
cated," and granted by the director, because his batteries 

11 Sept. were not quite ready. When morning came, Schute, see- 

Surreiider ^ '' . i i i 

ui Fort inff the folly of further resistance, went on board the Bal- 

Casimir. ^ -^ • i i rm 

ance, and signed a capitulation with Stuyvesant. The 
Swedes were allowed to remove all the artillery belonging 
to the crown ; twelve men, with their full arms and ac- 
coutrements, were to march out of the fort with the com- 
mandant, as his life-guard, and the rest with their side 
arms only ; and the officers were to retain their personal 
property. About noon the Dutch troops, "with flying col- 
ors," marched into the fort. Some thirty of the Swedes 
immediately submitted themselves to the government of 
New Netherland, and asked to be sent to Manhattan. The 

* Alb. Rec., xi., 28-42 ; New Amst. Rec, ii., 177 ; S. Hazard, Ann. Penn., 179-182. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 605 

next day being Sunday, Domine Megapolensis preached a ch. xvii. 
sermon to the troops ; and Stuy vesant dispatched an account 
of his success to the council at Fort Amsterdam, with di- jg sem 
rections for the appointment of a day of thanksgiving. 

Finding that he was also to be attacked, Rising en- 
deavored to strengthen his position at Fort Christina. In i5 sept. 
a few days, the Dutch forces established a battery on the tina invest- 
opposite bank of the Christina Creek ; and taking posses- 
sion of the " Third Hook," they invested the Swedish fort 
on all sides. The ships were anchored at the mouth of 
the Brandywine ; and Stuyvesant demanded of Rising 
" either to evacuate the country, or to remain there under 
Dutch protection." The Swedes, however, determined to 
hold out ; and the Dutch forces pillaged the people outside 
of the fort. At length, the garrison beginning to show 23 sepi. 
signs of mutiny, a parley was held. The next day the 24 Sept. 
Dutch guns were brought into battery, and a drummer 
summoned the Swedish fort to surrender within twenty- 
four hours. The following morning, articles of capitula- 25 sept. 
tion were signed "on the paved place," between the Swed-ofFon 
ish fort and the Dutch camp, by Stuyvesant and Rising ; 
the Swedes marched out "with their arms, colors flying, 
matches lighted, drums beating, and fifes playing ; and 
the Dutch took possession of the fort, hauled down the 
Swedish flag, and hoisted their own." 

According to the terms of the surrender, private prop- Terms of 
erty was to be respected, and such of the Swedes as wish- tion. 
ed to leave the country might do so. Those that remained 
were to enjoy religious freedom, and a minister to instruct 
''them in the Augsburg doctrine, upon condition of swear- 
ing allegiance to the Dutch authorities. It was also stip- 
ulated that Rising and Elswyck should be landed either 
in England or France, and that three hundred pounds 
Flemish should be advanced to Rising, upon the security 
of the goods and efTects at Fort Christina. In obedience 
to the instructions of the West India Company, Stuyve- 
sant, immediately after the surrender, offered to restore 
Fort Christina to the Swedes, " on honorable and reason- 



606 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XVII. ble terms." But this offer was declined by Rising, who 

~^ preferred to adhere to the capitulation. 
1655. rpj^^g |-g|| (.j^g Swedish power on the South River. The 
bloodless campaign was achieved by the largest army and 
the most powerful squadron that had ever gone into action 
in North America. Resistance would have been absurd. 
After a distinct existence of a little more than seventeen 
years, New Sweden reverted to New Netherland. A proc- 
25 Sept. lamation was immediately issued, granting permission to 
ment of the all who wcrc disposcd to remain, upon condition of their 
er on the taking an oath of allegiance ; and some twenty Swedes 
er. availed themselves of the offer. Two of the Lutheran cler- 

gymen on the river were sent back to Sweden ; but Lo- 
kenius was retained to instruct the Swedes and Finns, two 
hundred of whom were living a few miles up the river, 
above Fort Christina. One of the motives for what Mega- 
polensis thought "too easy" terms in the capitulation was, 
that the Dutch had no Reformed preacher who understood 
the language of the Swedes to establish there. Another 
was the intelligence that trouble had broken out at Man- 
hattan with the Indians, " and men required quick dis- 
patch" to repair matters there. Leaving Ensign Dirck 
Smit as temporary commandant on the South River, Stuy- 
vesant hastened back to Fort Amsterdam.* 

Ten years had passed away since Kieft's treaty at Fort 
Amsterdam, during which interval the relations between 
the Dutch and the savages had generally been friendly. 
A new provocation now roused the red man to vengeance. 
Van Dyck, the superseded schout-fiscal, having killed a 
squaw whom he had detected in stealing some peaches 
from his garden, her tribe burned to avenge her death. 
The neighboring savages shared in the sentiment ; and 
aware of the absence of the Dutch forces, they resolved to 
attack their defenseless settlements. A party of Mahi- 
cans, Pachamis, Esopus Indians, Hackinsacks, and Tap- 

* Alb. Rec, X., 134 ; xiii., 348-361 ; IIol. Doc, viii., 49, 108-116 ; ii., N. Y. II. S. Coll., 
i., 109, 418, 443-448 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii., 105 ; Acrelius ; Lambrechtsen, 69 ; Ferris, 
87-105 ; Bancroft, ii., 297 ; O'Call., ii., 286-289 ; S. Hazard, Ann. Penn., 18.3-197 ; Lond 
Doc, iv., 171 ; N. Y. Col. MSS., iii., 343. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 607 

pans, with some others from Stamford and Onkeway, sup- ch. xvii. 

posed to number nineteen hundred, of whom from five to "~I 

16 55 
eighteen hundred were armed, suddenly appeared before jg g^^^' " 

New Amsterdam in sixty-four canoes. Landing before ^"^gjo" "]" 
the break of day, they scattered themselves through the ^terdam" 
streets, while most of the inhabitants were yet asleep ; and, 
under the pretense of searching for " Indians from the 
north," broke into several houses. The council, the city 
magistrates, and some of the principal inhabitants, assem- 
bling in Fort Amsterdam, called the chief sachems before 
them, and made them promise to leave Manhattan at sun- 
set, and pass over to Nutten Island. But when evening 
came the savages broke their word. Van Dyck was shot 
with an arrow in the breast, and Van der Grrist was struck 
down with an axe. The town was instantly aroused ; and 
the soldiers and the burgher guard, sallying from Fort Am- 
sterdam, attacked the Indians and drove them to their ca- 
noes. Passing over to the Jersey shore, the savages laid Hoboken, 
waste Hoboken and Pavonia, and killed or captured most and state. 

ci'iT- <n Till • !• Island laid 

of the mhabitants. fetaten Island, where ninety colonists waste. 
were cultivating eleven flourishing bouweries, was deso- 
lated. In three days one hundred of the Dutch inhabit- 
ants were killed, one hundred and fifty were taken pris- 
oners, and three hundred more ruined in estate. Twenty- 
eight bouweries, besides several plantations, were destroy- 
ed ; and the colonists computed their damages at two hund- 
red thousand guilders. 

Again terror seized the land. Most of the farmers fled 
to Manhattan as to a city of refuge. The English villages Long isi- 
on Long Island sent word that the savages had threatened 
to kill the Dutch who lived there. Lady Moody's house 
at G-ravesend was again attacked. The few families who Esopus de- 
had settled themselves at Esopus abandoned their farms 
in alarm. Even Manhattan itself was not secure. Prowl- Manhat- 
ing bands of savages wandered over the island, destroying 
all that came in their way. " As the citizens were reluct- 
ant to go a great distance from the fort," ten Frenchmen 
were enrolled to guard the house and family of the absent 



608 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XVII. director ; and an express was sent to the South River to 

call Stuyvesant immediately home to New Amsterdam, 
12 October. '^^^ retum of the energetic director revived the spirits 
sant-rre- of ^^6 colonists. SoldicTs wcrc sent to the neighboring 
'"*""■ settlements ; the ships in port were detained ; and such of 
their passengers as could bear arms were forbidden to leave 
the province " until it should please G-od to change the 
Prompt aspect of affairs." Those who protested were fined, and 

measures ' ... 

(or defense, bid to " possess their souls in patience." All persons were 
forbidden to go into the country without special permis- 
sion, nor unless in sufficient numbers to secure their safe- 
ty. To prevent the savages from scaling the wall, a plank 
" curtain" was built, and upward of six thousand guilders 
were assessed upon and contributed by "the merchants, 
traders, schippers, factors, passengers, and citizens gener- 
ally," to pay the expense. 

The savages finding the captives a burden, now sent back 
Pos, the superintendent at Staten Island, with proposals 

17 October, for their ransom ; and a few days afterward, the chief of 
the Hackinsacks liberated fourteen of his prisoners, asking 
for some powder and ball in return. Stuyvesant imme- 
diately sent the chief a present of ammunition and two In- 

21 October, diaus iu cxchaiige. Twenty-eight more " Cliristians" were 

Prisoners 

ransomed, brought back, aiid a message that others would be restor- 
ed for a proper ransom. It was not, however, the red 
man's practice to exchange prisoners ; and no Europeans 

20 October, would be givcii up for Indians. Several more captives 
were soon ransomed by a stipulated payment in powder 

95 Sept. and lead. The commissioners of the United Colonies in 

Sympathy i • i i i i i 

oftheN.E. session at New Haven, hearing that the savages had taken 

commis- -i-. i • i i ■ i 

sioners. many Dutch prisoners, agreed to send "two or three meet 
messengers to endeavor their redemption." But news 
coming that " the worst was passed," and that the Dutch 
were in treaty with the Indians, the commissioners " ceased 
any further prosecution."* 

Rising now coming to New Amsterdam, on his return 

* Alb. Rcc, iv., 218; viii., 158; x., 133-165; New Amst. Rec. ii., 216-225; Relation, 
1655-6, 11 ; Hazard, ii., 336 ; O'Call., ii., 290-294 ; Thompson's L. I., ii., 173 ; ante, p. 525. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 609 

to Europe, charged Stuyvesant with a breach of the capit- ch. xvn. 
Illation on the South River. The director vindicated him- 
self with dignity and effect. A few days afterward, the 5^ f^^^^^^'^ 
late governor of New Sweden embarked with his suite in j^f^'"" "'^ 
two vessels of the West India Company ; and, landing at ^ ^"''' 
Plymouth, he communicated the recent occurrences to these Dec. 
Swedish minister at London. 

A subordinate government was immediately organized 29 Nov. 
on the South River. John Paul Jacquet, who had been in mem or- 
the company's service at Brazil, was commissioned as vice- uie south 
director ; Andries Hudde was made secretary and survey- 
or ; and Elmerhuysen Klein was adjoined as counselor. 
These three officers, with two of the " most expert free- 
men," were to form the Court of Civil Justice. Fort Cas- 
imir, now regaining its original name, was to be the seat 
of government, above which no trading vessels were to go. 
The Swedes were to be closely watched, and if any should 
be found disaffected, they were to be sent away " with all 
imaginable civility," and, if possible, be induced to come 
to Manhattan. The vice-director was also required to 3 Dec. 
" maintain and protect the Reformed religion, as it is 
learned and taught in this country, in conformity to the 
word of God and the Synod of Dordrecht, and to promote 
it as far as his power may extend." 

On reaching the South River, Jacquet found that the is Dec. 
v/hole population consisted of only about a dozen families, vice-di- 

rector 

Police regulations were immediately adopted ; and Fort 
Casimir, on a survey, was found to be in very " disrupted 25 Dec. 
and tottering condition." A deputation of the neighbor- 
ing sachems soon visited the new vice-director, and a lib- 
eral commercial treaty was arranged, with the assistance 29 Dec. 
of the inhabitants. In the absence of a Dutch clergyman, 
Lokenius, the Lutheran minister at Christina, occasion- 
ally came down to Fort Casimir to conduct divine service.* 

The vessels which conveyed Rising, carried out, also, a October. 
" simple and true narrative" of the recent Indian troubles, 

* Alb. Rec, X., 135-146, 173, 166-191, 399, 403-407; xi., 127-133; xiii., 345-367; Hoi. 
Doc, viii., 1, 16 ; S. Hazard, Ann. Penn., 197-208. 



(310 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XVII. in the form of a petition to the States Greneral, the West 
India Company, and the city government of Amsterdam. 
AMsistaiu'e '^^^' defenseless condition of the country was explained, 
Holland''"' ^^^^ assistance was earnestly implored. In the mean time, 
the popular mind was ill at ease ; and Stuyvesant took 
10 Nov. the opinions of his council respecting the propriety of a 
war with the Indians, the best means to recover the 
Dutch who still remained prisoners among the Weckquaes- 
geeks and the Highland tribes, and the replenishment of 
the treasury, which had been exhausted by the South 
River expedition and the ransom of the Christian captives. 
The only counselor in favor of war was Van Tienhoven. 
Stuyvesant himself, attributing the recent outbreak to the 
rashness of a few "hot-headed individuals," thought a 
Precaution- War inexpedient. The people should rather reform them- 
ures"prcf- sclvcs, abatc all irregularities, and promote the settlement 
^'^^^ ' of villages with proper defenses. A block-house should 
be built at Hackinsack, and another at Weckquaesgeek, 
and all armed Indians should be excluded fi-om the settle- 
ments of the Europeans. To raise a fund for the redemp- 
tion of the remaining captives, he proposed an increase of 
the taxes on lands, houses, and liquors ; as, in his judg- 
ment, the luxurious habits, and high wages common in 
the province did not argue an inability to contribute for 
the public service, but " rather a malevolent unwilling- 
ness, arising from an imaginary liberty in a new, and, as 
some pretend, a free country." But the council, in view 
of the condition of the province, resisted any addition to 
the direct taxes. The excise, however, was increased ; 
Excises that of Ncw Amsterdam was farmed out, for a year, at 
five thousand and thirty guilders, and that of Beverwyck, 
including Rensselaerswyck, Katskill, and Esopus, at two 
27 Nov. thousand and thii'teen. A delegation from the Long Isl- 
and^n-^ and Indians now visited Manhattan, declaring that, since 
peaceful, thc general peace of 1645, they had done the Dutch no 
harm, " not even to the value of a dog." They had been 
twelve years at war with the enemies of the Hollanders ; 
and they now sent a bundle of wampum as a token of the 



PETER STUVVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 611 

« 
friendship of the Eastern chiefs. The River Indians, nev- ch. xvii. 
ertheless, continuing sullen, kept the captive Christians as 
pledges to secure them from the vengeance of the Dutch.* 

The close of this year was marked by a new display of 
Stuyvesant's imperious character. Through all their so- 
cial and political trials, the Dutch colonists had preserved 
their hereditary elasticity of spirit ; and bringing with them 
the cheerful habits of their nation, they naturally desired to 
enjoy in New Netherland the pastimes in which they had 
joined at " Pinckster" and other holidays in Holland. But 
the severe director would not tolerate within his govern- 
ment those frivolities which, in the Fatherland, were " look- 
ed at through the fingers." An ordinance was according- 31 Dec. 
ly published, declaring that " from this time forth, within anTMay"^ 
this province of New Netherland, on New Year, or May- prohXted. 
days, there shall be no firing, nor planting of May-poles, 
nor any beating of drums, nor treating," under penalty of 
twelve guilders for the first offense, double for the second, 
and " arbitrary correction" for the third. t 

On his way from Q,uebec to the Mohawk country, the September. 
Jesuit Father Le Moyne visited Beverwyck, where he wasMoynlaf 
hospitably received by the Dutch colonists and by De Deck- w'jxir 
er, the now vice-director. The Mohawks welcomed thevisustnt 
Canadian missionary to their castles ; and the gentle spirit 
of Christianity seemed at last to have won that warlike na- 
tion to peace with the French. 

News of the outbreak of the Indians around Manhattan October. ' 
soon reached Fort Orange ; and the authorities, alarmed inZ be- 
lest the Iroquois might make common cause with their red bm^ and 
brethren at the South, prudently renewed the ancient al- Lwks! 
liance between the Dutch and the Mohawks. The next 18 Nov. 
month, a hundred warriors of that tribe visited Fort Or- 
ange, to announce that they were about to attack the Hu- 
rons, and to ask the Dutch to remain neutral. At the same 
time, they complained that they were not treated as hos- 
pitably at Fort Orange as the Hollanders were at the Mo- 

* Alb. Rec, X., 139-142 ; 150-173 ; Heemstede Rec, i., 25 ; O'Call., ii., 296-298. 
t New Amsterdam Rec, i., 36, 407 ; ii., 299. 



612 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Ch. XVII. hawk castles ; and that for the most trifling repairs to their 

^guns they were obliged to pay in wampum. This was not 

^r ^? V treating them as brethren. The Dutch authorities prom- 

The Dutch ^ ^ 

Mohawks ^^^'^ neutrality, and explained that their people visited the 
Mohawk country only in small numbers; if their red breth- 
ren would observe a similar rule, they would be handsome- 
ly entertained at Beverwyck. The Hollanders earned their 
own bread ; and, as they were accustomed to receive the 
rewards of labor, their Mohawk brothers should not com- 
plain at being treated as the Christians treated each other. 
These explanations were satisfactory ; and the red men, 
laying their wampum belts at the feet of the Dutch, re- 
ceived presents of powder and lead, "with their customary 
barbarous applaudings," and departed in great joy. 
19 Sept. Light now gleamed over the regions west of the Mo- 

29 October, hawks. Two Jcsuit missionaries, Joseph Chaumonot and 
and Da- Claudc Dablou, setting out from Quebec, passed up the 
Saint Lawrence, and landed at Oswego. In a fe%V days 
5 Nov. the Fathers were hospitably welcomed at the principal vil- 
lage of the Onondagas ; and a site for a permanent settle- 
9 Nov. ment was chosen at "Lake G-enentaha," near the Salt 
neVfaha.' Springs which Le Moyne had visited the year before. With 
fervid eloquence, Chaumonot preached the word ; and the 
excited crowd sang the chorus, led by their chief, " Griad 
tidings ! glad tidings ! it is well that we have spoken to- 
19 Nov. gether." The zeal of the natives built a temporary chapel 
chapel at of bark In a single day ; the solemn service of the Roman 
Church was chanted in the silent forest ; and the emblem 
of Christianity and the banner of France were simultane- 
ously raised in Onondaga.* 

* Relation, 1655-6, 7-23; 1657-8, 30; Journal de Dablon ; Crcuxius, 739-775; Charle- 
voix, i., 320-322 ; Bancroft, iii., 142-144 ; Rcnss. MSS. ; Fort Orange Rec. ; O'Call., ii., 
292, 306 ; Clark's Onondaga, i., 139-151, 171, 172; Doc. Hist. N. Y., i., 44; ante, p. 592. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 613 



CHAPTER XVIII. 
1656-1658. 

The Indian ravages of 1655 repeated to the people of ch. xvm. 

New Netherland the lesson which they had first harned in 

1643. Their losses were mainly owing to the isolated sit- -'^"*^^- 
uation of the farmers. To prevent future calamity, Stuy- i8Jan. 
vesant issued a proclamation, ordering all who lived in se- timuofonn 
eluded places in the country to collect themselves together ^' "^*'' 
by the next spring, and to form villages "after the fashion 
of our New England neighbors." 

The burgomasters and schepens of New Amsterdam now n Jan. 
renewed the demand to be allowed the right to name their 
successors. Almost all the villages in New Netherland pos- 
sessed this privilege. "Why should it be denied to the cap- 
ital of the province ? The director explained that the priv- 
ilege had been conferred on those places on account of their 
distance from the seat of government. He would now is Jan. 
make the same concession to New Amsterdam, provided yLYisto^n' 
the magistrates actually in office should always be under- teVs^anj" 
stood as nominated for approval ; that only persons well ^'^ ^''*"" 
qualified, and not unfriendly to the provincial authorities, 
should be named; and that a member of the council should 
have the right to assist, when the nominations were made. 
The city authorities accepted these conditions, and propos- si Jan. 
ed their candidates. But Stuyvesant objecting to some of lus prom- 
them, "on account of former disputes," refused to sanction 
the nomination. The question was earnestly discussed 
in the council ; but the director maintained his ground. 
Eventually, five of the old officers were continued for 
another year ; and Willem Beeckman and Hendrick Kip 2 Feb. 
were appointed new schepens, to fill two vacancies.* 

* Alb. Rec, X., 220, 260 ; xii., 169 ; New Amst. Rec, i., 37 ; ii., 323-342. 



()14 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. xviii. New Netherland was now to witness within her own 
~ borders a gross violation of the rights of conscience. Un- 
Religious *^^ 1654, the ecclesiastical policy of her government had 
afikirs. j^^^^ practically, departed from that of the Fatherland, 
where, notwithstanding the establishment of a national 
Reformed Church, we have seen that all other sects were 
tolerated, and allowed the use of their several forms of 
^ worship. The West India Company recognized the au- 

^ thority of the Established Church of Holland over their co- 

Authonty lonial posscssions ; and the specific care of the Transatlan- 
ciassisof tic churches was early intrusted by the Synod of North 
dam. Holland to the Classis of Amsterdam. By that body all the 
colonial clergy were approved and commissioned. With 
its committee, " ad res exteras," they maintained a con- 
stant correspondence. The Classis of Amsterdam was, in 
fact, the Metropolitan of New Netherland. For more than 
a century its ecclesiastical supremacy was affectionately 
acknowledged ; and long after the capitulation of the prov- 
ince to England, the power of ordination to the ministry, 
in the American branch of the Reformed Dutch Church, 
remained in the governing Classis in Holland, or was ex- 
ercised only by its special permission.* 
Colonial The clergymen commissioned by the Classis of Amster- 
dam were, of course, Calvinists. They were generally men 
of high scholarship and thorough theological training ; for 
the people, who at Leyden preferred a university to a fair, 
insisted upon an educated ministry. The colonial clergy 
had much work to do, and peculiar difficulties to encoun- 
ter. A lax morality, produced by the system of govern- 
ment and the circumstances of the province, undoubtedly 
prevailed among many of the New Netherland colonists. 
It was difficult to minister the offices of religion to scat- 
tered farmers and isolated traders. It was still more dif- 
ficult to teach the word to the savages. Yet, Megapolen- 

* Dr. Gunn"s Memoirs of Dr. Livingston, "8-92 ; Dr. De Witt, N. Y. II. S. Proc, 1641, 
68-76. While in Holland, in 1841, I had an interview, in behalf of the General Synod, 
with the Classis of Amsterdam, and obtained from its archives extracts of its proencd 
ings, and much valuable correspondence with the clergy and churches in New Netherland 
and New York, from 1041 to 1775, of which I have availed myself in this work. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 615 

sis, contemporaneously with Jogues, had attempted to in- ch. xvni. 
struct the Mohawks several years before Eliot began liis~ ;; 
missionary labors near Watertown and Dorchester. At ' ^' 
Manhattan, too, the work was tried, but with very indif- 
ferent success. The Dutch colonists themselves gladly Feoimgso; 
listened to the G-ospel which they had heard in the Father- 
land ; and churches were built, partly by voluntary con- 
tributions of the commonalties, at Manhattan, Beverwyck, 
and Midwout. To these churches the country people made 
toilsome journeys, to bring their children to baptism, to 
hear the words of the preacher, and to join in that simple 
but majestic music which they had first sung far across the 
sea, where the loud chorus overpowers the diapasons of 
Haerlem and Amsterdam. 

In the beginning of the year 1656, there were four Re- clergymen 
formed Dutch clergymen in New Netherland. Megapo- e" at New ' 
lensis and Drisius were colleagues at New Amsterdam ; dam, Bev- 
Schaats ministered at Beverwyck ; and Polhemus had the and Lon? 
joint charge of Breuckelen, Midwout, and Amersfoort. Be- 
sides his regular services at New Amsterdam, Drisius oc- 
casionally visited Staten Island, where a number of Vau- 
dois or Waldenses soon settled themselves ; and his knowl- 
edge of the French language enabled him to preach satis- 
factorily to these faithful men, who fled to Holland and 
to America from the tyranny of their despotic sovereign. 
Flushing, which had obliged Doughty to quit the place and Flushing. 
go to Virginia, had been for more than a year without a 
minister. At Heemstede, where there were many Dutch neemstede. 
and English Calvinists, Richard Denton, a Presbyterian 
clergyman, and "an honest, pious, and learned man," had 
preached since 1644. He had " in all things conformed" 
to the Established Church of the province. The Puritan 
Independents of the place "listened attentively" to his 
preaching ; but when he began to baptize the children of 
such parents as were not communicants, " they some- 
times burst out of the church." At Middelburgh, or New- Middei- 
town, where the Independents outnumbered the Presbyte- ""^^ ' 
rians, John Moore, who did not administer sacraments. 



616 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. xviii. preached with acceptance. The people of Grravesend were 
understood to be " Mennonists," or Anabaptists. They re- 

Gravesend j^cted infant baptism, the Sabbath, the office of preacher, 
and the teachers of God's word, " saying that through these 
have come all sorts of contention into the world." When- 
ever they met together, one or other " read something for 

West them." The English settlers at West Chester were Puri- 
tan Independents. They had no preacher, but held Sunday 
meetings, "reading a sermon from an English book, and 

Esopus. making a prayer." At Esopus, or " Atkarkarton," the few 
Dutch inhabitants, having no clergyman, had conducted 
divine service themselves on Sunday, one of them reading 
" something out for a postille," or commentary. On the 

South Riv- South River, Lokenius, the Lutheran clergyman, continued 
his ministrations to the Swedes and Finns near Fort Chris- 
tina. He was represented to lead " a godless and scandal- 
ous life," and to be "more inclined to look into the wine 
kan than to pore over the Bible." At Fort Casimir, the 
Dutch residents, being without a minister, appointed a lay- 

onondaga. man, " who should read every Sunday." In the Far West, 
Jesuit missionaries preached to the Onondagas. So stood 

Schools. New Netherland with regard to religion. As to popular 
education, excepting at Manhattan, Beverwyck, and Fort 
Casimir, there was no schoolmaster. Though the people 
at large were anxious that their children should be in- 
structed, they found great difficulty, because many of them, 
coming "naked and poor from Holland," had not sufficient 
means, and because there were few qualified persons, ex- 
cept those already employed, who could or would teach.* 

Jealousy of In their correspondence with the Classis of Amsterdam, 

poiitan the Dutch clergymen at Manhattan had frequently refer- 
red to the increase of Mennonists and Lutherans in the prov- 
ince. At New Amsterdam, the Lutherans, as we have 
seen, had been refused permission to worship publicly in 
a church of their own. Nevertheless, the directors of the 
/ Amsterdam Chamber did not sanction in their province 

* Letters to Classis, 5th Aug. and 22d Oct., 1057 ; Doct. Hist. N. Y., iii., 103-108, 189, 
190 ; Dr. De Witt, in N. Y. 11. S. Proc, 1844, C9, 70 ; Thomps. L. I., ii., 20 ; ante, p. 375. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 617 

a sectarian persecution unknown in the liberal Father- ch. xvm. 
land. 

The immediate cause of the first exhibition of religious 
intolerance in New Netherland was ecclesiastical jealousy, 
and a too rigid constuction of official duty. Early in the 
year 1656, the metropolitan clergymen, Megapolensis and 
Drisius, complained to the director general that unquali- i 
fied persons were preaching and holding conventicles at 
Middelburgh, " from which nothing could be expected but 
discord, confusion, and disorder in Church and State." 
Stuy vesant was himself a zealous son of the Church. He 
was an over-strict constructionist, and loved the display 
of arbitrary power. A proclamation, assuming "to pro- 1 Feb. 
mote the glory of G-od, the increase of the Reformed relig- tion'^ ^'"*' 
ion, and the peace and harmony of the country," soon ap- amhorizeS 
peared, forbidding preachers, " not having been called there- des!*^" ' 
to by ecclesiastical or temporal authority," from holding 
conventicles not in harmony with the established religion 
as set forth by the Synod of Dort, " and here in this land, 
and in the Fatherland, and in other Reformed churches 
observed and followed." Every unlicensed preacher who 
should violate this ordinance was subjected to a penalty 
of one hundred Flemish pounds ; and every person who 
should attend such prohibited meetings became liable to a 
penalty of twenty-five pounds. The ordinance, however, 
expressly disclaimed " any prejudice to any patent hereto- 
fore given, any lording over the conscience, or any prohi- 
bition of the reading of G-od's holy word, and the domestic 
praying and worship of each one in his family." A simi- lo March. 
lar proclamation was immediately published by De Deck- 
er, the vice-director at Fort Orange. 

The invidious law was enforced. Recusants were fined 
and imprisoned. Complaints to Holland followed ; and the 
West India Company promptly rebuked their director for 
his bigoted zeal. " We would fain not have seen," wrote h. rune, 
they to Stuyvesant, "your worship's hand set to the pla- tioMs"ofthc 
card against the Lutherans, nor have heard that you op- company!" 
pressed them with the imprisonments of which they have 



618 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



Ch. XVIII, 



1656. 



G March. 
E.xpedition 
sent to 
West 
Chester. 



16 March. 



complained to us, because it has always been our intention 
to let them enjoy all calmness and tranquillity. Where- 
fore, you will not hereafter publish any similar placards 
without our previous consent, but allow to all the free ex- 
ercise of their religion within their own houses. ""* 

Information had meanwhile reached the provincial gov- 
ernment that the English intruders at West Chester not 
only sheltered and encouraged fugitives from justice, but 
had kept up a constant correspondence with the Indians 
during the late " dismal engagements with the savages." 
To defend the rights of the West India Company, Captain 
De Koninck, Captain Newton, and Van Tienhoven, the 
schout-fiscal, were now sent thither with a sufficient force, 
and ordered to apprehend the leaders and compel the other 
settlers to remove thence with their property. The expe- 
dition was met with a show of resistance by Lieutenant 
Wheeler and an armed force ; but the English were prompt- 
ly disarmed, and twenty-three of them were conveyed as 
prisoners to New Amsterdam, and secured on board the 
ship Balance. The runaways from the Dutch were sent 
to prison ; those from New England and elsewhere were 
put under civil arrest. Wheeler and his party soon offered 
to submit themselves to the Dutch government, upon con- 
dition of being allowed to elect their magistrates, make 
laws not contrary to those of the province, divide the lands 
among the townsfolk, and have their arms restored. Stuy- 
vesant replied that they should have the same privileges 
" as the freemen of the villages of Middelburgh, Breucke- 
len, Midwout, and Amersfoort were enjoying." The pris- 
oners were then released ; and a few of the English who 
had taken up arms were "commanded to depart the limits 
of New Netherland, unless some of the inhabitants of Vrede- 
land adopt them and become bail for their good behavior." 
A few days afterward, a double nomination of magistrates 
was sent to Stuyvesant, with a petition that the settlers 
might have certain local privileges, that they might be 

* Cor. Classis Amsterdam ; Letters of Olh October, 1603 ; 25tli .July, 1054 ; 18th March, 
1055 ; Alb. Rec, iv., 130, 212; vii., 355-3.'i7 ; New Amst. Rec, i., 41, 42; ii., 350; Fort 
Orange Rec; O'Call., ii., 317, 320; Bancroft, ii., 300; ante, p. 101, 102, 582. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 619 

furnished with a copy of the laws of the province " drawn ch. xvhi 
out in English," and that the writings passed between them ZT 
and the provincial authorities might be in English, so that 
they might " fully and perfectly understand them." Stuy- 
vesant promptly selected Thomas Wheeler, Thomas New- 28 March. 
man, and John Lord, from the nominees, as the first mag- istratcs 01 
istrates of West Chester, which now obtained the name of or West 
" Oost-dorp," or East Village. A decision upon the peti- 
tion was, however, postponed for further consultation.* 

Another village was now incorporated on Long Island. 
Upon the petition of several of the inhabitants of Heem- 
stede for permission to begin a plantation about midway 
between that village and Amersfoort, Stuyvesant readily 
granted them free leave to establish a town with such priv- 21 March, 
ileges "as the inhabitants of New Netherland generally do 
possess in their lands, and likewise in the choice of their 
magistrates as in the other villages or towns." The new 
settlement was named by the Dutch " Rust-dorp," or " Q,ui- Rust-dorp, 
et Village." The settlers themselves wished to call it '"' •'^''"'^''^^ 
" Jemeco," after the Indian name of the beaver pond in its 
neighborhood. The village is now known as Jamaica. At 
the first regular town meeting, in the spring of the next 
year, Daniel Denton, the oldest son of the Presbyterian caniei 
clergyman at Heemstede, was appointed clerk, "to write town'derk 
and enter all acts and orders of public concernment to the 
town." A few years afterward, he published the first orig- 
inal English " Description of New York, formerly called 
New Netherland."! 

Baxter and Hubbard had now been nearly a year in the 
keep of Fort Amsterdam. At the intercession of Sir Hen- 
ry Moody and the Gravesend magistrates, Stuyvesant re- 
leased Hubbard, and transferred Baxter, upon bail, to the 
debtor's room at the court-house until the Amsterdam 
Chamber should decide upon his case. A few weeks aft- 

* Alb. Rec, iv., 187 ; x., 38, 250, 315-346 ; xi., 283-321 ; xvi., 303 ; O'Call., ii., 312- 
314 ; Bolton's West Chester, ii., 157-161 ; ante, p. 601. 

t Alb. Rec, X., 339 ; xiv., 12 ; .Jamaica Rec. ; Thompson's L. I., ii., 20, 96, 97 ; O'Call., 
ii., 323. Denton's work was printed at London in 1670, and a handsome edition, with 
notes by Mr. Furman, was republished here in 1845. 



620 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XVIII. erward, the faithless Englishman forfeited his bail and es- 
~~~7~r caped to Grravcsend, where he again began to plot against 
Baxter at' ^^^ formcr patrons. Several of the inhabitants were in- 
Gravesend. Juced by him to sign a memorial praying Cromwell to take 
them under the protection of England, and emancipate 
them from the dominion of the Dutch. The memorial was 
carried to London by James Grrover, who, with Baxter and 
Hubbard, had hoisted the English colors at Gravesend the 
year before. To public treason Baxter now added private 
dishonesty. Besides other debts, he owed two hundred 
guilders to the poor fund ; and his cattle were under seiz- 
ure. These he secretly removed at night. His defrauded 
creditors became clamorous ; his farm and other effects 
Escapes to Were seized in execution ; and the bankrupt traitor fled to 

New En- . 

gland. New England to work all the mischief he could against 
New Netherland.* 

On the South River the Swedes remained generally loy- 
al ; though some of them, found plotting with the savages, 
were ordered to be sent to Fort Amsterdam, and such aa 
would not take the oath of allegiance to be transported. 

Swedish Early in the spring, the Mercury, a ship which had been 

South Riv- dispatched from Sweden, with one hundred and thirty em- 
igrants, before news of the surrender had been received, 
arrived at Fort Casimir ; and Stuyvesant, on learning the 

29 March, circumstances, directed Jacquet to prevent the landing of 
the Swedes, but to allow the Mercury to come to Manhat- 
tan for a supply of provisions. Huygh, the Swedish cap- 

11 April tain, then proceeded overland to New Amsterdam, and laid 

his case before the director. But Stuyvesant would allow 
no foreigners to settle themselves on the South River; and 

12 .\prii. a messenger was dispatched thither with directions to send 

the Swedish ship to Fort Amsterdam. Meanwhile, sev- 
eral Swedes and Indians, headed by Pappcgoya, had board- 
ed the Mercury and conveyed her up the river as far as 
Mantes Hook. The rumor soon reaching New Amster- 
27 April, dam. Ensign Dirck Smit was sent with a re-enforcement 

* Alb. Rec, iv., 265 ; v., 367 ; x., 180,234,299; xi., 119, 182,200; xii., 321 ; IIol. Doc, 
ix., 105; O'Call., ii., 342; ante, p. 597. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 621 

cf twelve or fifteen soldiers across the country to the South ch. xviii. 
River; and a few days afterward, the ship Balance was 
dispatched, with two members of the council and the jj^o^gj,^ to 
Swedish captain, to secure the vessel, and "soothe the an- J°^j.f^" 
imosities between the Christians and the savages." The^'"'"'^' 
Mercury was soon recovered and anchored before Fort Am- 
sterdam, whence, after her cargo had been sold, she return- 
ed to Sweden.* 

The States G-eneral, hearing of the arrival in England 
of the Swedish soldiers whom Stuyvesant had sent home, 
ordered the Amsterdam directors to inform them fully of e Jan. 
the- circumstances. A few days afterward, the company 
submitted a long "deduction," with voluminous append i- 24 Jan. 
ces, explaining all the proceedings on the South River from 
the year 1638 ; and soliciting help to secure them in pos- 
session of their recovered territory. These documents were 28 Jan. 
referred to a committee of their High Mightinesses, in se- 
cret session.! 

Having at last received a copy of the Hartford treaty, the 22 Feb. 
Amsterdam Chamber applied to the States G-eneral to rati- tion'or the 
fy it on their part, and thus promote the settlement of the treaty. 
long-delayed boundary question. A formal act was there- 
fore passed, under the seal of their High Mightinesses, ap- 
pro>;ing and ratifying the arrangement ; and the West In- 
dia Company was at the same time directed "to take care 
that the like act of ratification of the said articles be ob- 
tained of the Lord Protector of England." But this injunc- 
tion seems never to have been fulfilled ; and the affair re- 
mained thus in suspense until the restoration of Charles ll.t 

Intelligence of the conquest of New Sweden now reach- 
ing Stockholm, the king directed his resident at the Hague 
to bring the subject before the Dutch government. Ap- 

* Alb. Rec, X., 351-384, 4n^21 ; xi., 326-374, 433 ; xiii,, 1-7, 374 ; Lond. Doc, iv., 172; 
N. Y. Col. Rec, iii., 343 ; S. Hazard, Ann. Penn., 211-219; Acrelius, 419. 

t IIol. Doc, via., 1-1 17. Appended to these papers, as they exist in the archives at the 
Hague, is a copy of an engraved map of New Netherland, published just before at Am- 
sterdam, entitled " Novi Belgii, Nova; que Angliie, nee non partis VirginicB Tabula, muUis 
in loris emendata, d Nicolan Joannis Visschero." 

t Alb. Rec, iv., 207 ; Ilol. Doc, viii., 1 19-129 ; ix., 98, 99 ; x., 15 ; Thurloe, iv., 526 ; 
Letters of De Witt, iii., 192 ; Hazard, ii., 549 ; Groot Placaatbook, ii., 1278 ; Lambrecht- 
Ben, 106 ; ante, p. 520, 545 ; post p. 685. 



622 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. xviii. pelboom accordingly presented a memorial setting forth the 
right of the Swedes on the South River, "optimo titulo 
22 March, j^^ris," and praying that the injuries which they had suf- 
^Ihe"** fered from the West India Company might be redressed, 
resufenfat Swcdcu, howevcr, was now at war with Poland ; Oxen- 
the Hague, gtiema was no more; and the throne of the victorious Gus- 
tavus was filled by the less fortunate Charles the Tenth. 
The complaints of Sweden, though renewed during eight 
years, never moved the government at the Hague. But 
the Swedish colonists remained on the shores of the Dela- 
ware ; at Stockholm they were remembered with affection- 
ate regard ; and in the New World where they had chosen 
their home, a part of their descendants "still preserve their 
altar and their dwellings round the graves of their fathers."* 
13 May. The West India Company now sent directions, to Stuy- 

edtobe vcsaut to build a fort at Oyster Bay, and maintain by force 
Oyster of arms, if necessary, the integrity of the Dutch province, 
the boundaries of which had just been formally confirmed 
by the States Greneral. "We do not hesitate," they add- 
ed, "to approve of your expedition on the South River, and 
its happy termination, while it agrees in substance with 
our orders. AVe should not have been displeased, however, 
if such a formal capitulation for the surrender of the forts 
had not taken place, but that the whole business had been 
transacted in a manner similar to that of which the Swedes 
set us an example when they made themselves masters of 
Fort Casimir."t 
13 May. At the samc time, the company, yielding to the " reit- 

hovendis- Crated complaiuts" of the people of New Netherland,gave 
orders to Stuyvesant no longer to employ either Cornells 
van Tienhoven or his brother Adriaen in the public serv- 
ice. The schout-fiscal was declared to be "the prominent 
cause of that doleful massacre" the previous autumn, and 
his brother was detected in fraud as receiver general. Ni- 
Dc siiie ap. casius dc SiUc was appointed schout-fiscal of the province, 
h?8"p?acc" and De Decker confirmed as commissary at Fort Orange. 

* Hol. Doc, viii., 130-135 ; x., 22^1 ; Letters of De Witt, i., 276; hi., 201, 202; Thur- 
loe, iv., 599, 612; Aitxema, iii., 1260; v., 247; IIol. Mer., 1656, p. 30; O'Call., ii., 327, 
573 ; Bancroft, ii., 297, 298. t AJb. Rec, iv.. 204-207 ; S. Hazard, Ann. Penn., 209. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 623 

Hearing of Van Tienhoven's disgrace, the burgomasters ch. xvni. 
and schepens of New Amsterdam petitioned Stuyvesant to 
appoint " an intelligent and expert" person from among the 30 ^^y 
citizens as schout of the city. The du'ector, however, re- ^terda^,"^" 
ferring to the company's instructions, declined ; and De ^*"^^' 
Sille, the new provincial fiscal, was commissioned as city 26 June. 
schout. In the following autumn, the municipal govern- 7 Nov. 
ment again applied to the Amsterdam Chamber for further 
privileges. Stuyvesant himself, however, now saw the ne- 
cessity of some change, and the burgomasters and sche- 
pens were allowed an enlarged criminal jurisdiction, in 21 Dec 
cases of " minor degree." New police regulations were 
adopted ; and, for fear of the savages, a patrol was estab- 
lished during divine service. The number of children at pubuc 
the public school having greatly increased, further accom- 
modation was allowed to Harman van Hoboken the school- 
master. A survey of the city, made by Captain De Ko- survey aid 

CI 1 • • 1 111 population 

nmck at the request 01 tlie authorities, showed that there of the me- 

, . . 1111 1 " 1 tropolis. 

were, at this time, one hundred and twenty houses and 
one thousand souls in New Amsterdam.* 

Opposition to the excise at Beverwyck continuing, De 13 May- 
Decker was ordered to arrest such of the tapsters as refus- sever- 
ed to pay, and convey them to New Amsterdam. One of 
them was accordingly lodged in Fort Orange until the sloop 24 May. 
should be ready to sail. The prisoner escaping, however, 
fled to the patroon's house ; and Van Rensselaer, going 
down to the capital, protested against Stuyvesant's exac- 
tions. The West India Company had not fulfilled its ob- 20 June, 
ligation to protect the inhabitants. On the contrary, the seiaer pro- 
colonists had thrice come to the assistance of the compa- stuyve- 
ny's officers ; once during the French and Indian war, 
again in the troubles with New England, and lately dur- 
ing the outbreak of the savages around Manhattan. The 
colonic had always been the first to purchase the friend- 
ship of the Indians, and its proprietors had borne all the 

* Alb. Rec, iv., 206, 218 ; xi., 424 ; xiii., 268, 302-319 ; xv., 166 ; New Amst. Rec, u., 
341, 363, 377, 433, 467-488, 640, 690 ; O'Call., ii., 322, 540. Van Tieiihoven and his broth- 
er soon afterward absconded from the province. There was formerly a street outside of 
the \vall, known as " Tienhoven's" street ; but the name is now extinct. 



624 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



1656. 

27 June. 



Rensselaer 
fined, and 
ordered to 
give bond. 



6 July. 



7 August. 
Tapsters 
convicted. 



New 

church at 
Bever- 
wyck. 
8 June. 



expense of ministers and officers of justice. It was, there- 
fore, unjust for the company to appropriate the excise and 
demand tithes. Stuyvesant, however, pronounced Van 
Rensselaer's protest to be " frivolous," and fined him twen- 
ty guilders for making such "absurd assertions." By the 
eighteenth article of the " Freedoms and Exemptions" of 
1629, the patroon's colonists, after ten years, were as murh 
bound as the other inhabitants of New Netherland to con- 
tribute to the public revenue. As Van Rensselaer him- 
self was the instigator of the opposition of the " contuma- 
cious tapsters," he was ordered to give a bond in three 
thousand guilders for their appearance at New Amsterdam, 
or else remain there himself under civil arrest. 

A proclamation was soon afterward is.sued, forbidding 
the removal of crops in any town or colonic within the. prov- 
ince until the company's tithes had been paid. The au- 
thorities of Rensselaerswyck refused to publish this pla- 
card ; but the tapsters were sent down to New Amsterdain. 
They pleaded that they had acted under the orders of their 
feudal superiors. This defense, however, was overruled ; 
and one was fined two hundred pounds, and the other eight 
hundred guilders. 

Measures had been taken, in the mean time, to build a 
new church at Beverwyek, in place of the small one which 
had been used since 1643. The court at Fort Orange ap- 
propriated fifteen hundred guilders, and the proprietors of 
Rensselaerswyck subscribed one thousand. A site was 
chosen in middle of the highway, at the intersection of 
what were long known as Yonker's and Handelaar's Streets, 
and afterward as State and Market Streets. The corner- 
stone was laid, in the presence of the authorities and the 
inhabitants, with appropriate ceremony, by Rutger Jacob- 
sen, one of the oldest magistrates of the colonic. The 
work went rapidly on ; and the inhabitants subscribed 
twenty-five beavers, worth about two hundred guilders, to 
purchase an oaken pulpit in Holland. The Amsterdam 
Chamber added seventy-five guilders to this subscription ; 
and, the next year, presented Domine Schaats and his con- 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 625 

gregation with a bell "to adorn their newly-constructed ch. xvm. 
little church." ~^ 

De Decker, being about to return to Holland, now re- 
signed his office as vice-director at Fort Orange. La Mon- 28 sept. 
tagne, one of the provincial council, was appointed as his tagne vice- 
successor, and Johannes Provoost was made secretary. Fon or- 
The vice-director lived in a two-storied house within the 
fort, the upper floor of which was used as a court room. 
One of the most important duties of the provincial officers 
was the oversight of the large fur trade which was now Fur trade. 
concentrated at Fort Orange, from which post, and from 
its neighborhood, upward of thirty-five thousand beaver 
and otter skins were exported during the year 1656.* 

Upon receiving the official ratification of the Hartford 22 August 
treaty by his government, Stuyvesant wrote to the com- correspond- 
missioners of the United Colonies, expressing his joy at the New En- 
peace between Holland and England ; renewing his prop- 
osition for a union and combination between the Dutch 
and English colonies ; asking for the appointment of a time 
and place to exchange the ratifications ; and urging that 
the New England governments should detain "all persons 
of no note or qualification," coming from New Netheriand 
without a proper passport, and promising to do the like in 
return. The commissioners replied that they desired the 27 Sept. 
continuance of peace ; expressed no wish for a " nearer 
union ;" passed the boundary question by, with an insinu- 
ation that the Dutch had no right to claim jurisdiction over 
"the English plantation at Oyster Bay;" complained of 
Stuyvesant's treatment of John Young of Southold, " when 

* Alb. Records, iv., 233, 239, 208 ; x., 68 ; xl., 409^99 ; xili., 72, 221-223 ; xvlii., 83; 
Renss. MSS. ; Fort Orange Rec. ; Let. of Domine Schaats, 26th June, 1657 ; O'Call., ii., 
307-310 ; Munsell's Alb Reg., 1849 ; ante, p. 375, 538, 539. The site of this church, in which 
Schaats ministered for many years, was, until within a short time ago, partly inclosed 
by an iron railing in the centre of the street, in front of the Albany Exshange. In 1715, a 
new church was erected around the walls of the one built in 1656, so that public wor- 
ship was suspended only three Sundays. In the windows of this new church were in- 
serted panes of glass, on which were painted the coats of arms of most of the old Dutch 
families of Albany. There they remained until the church was demolished in 1806. The 
old octagonal oak pulpit is now in the attic of the North Dutch church ; and a fragment 
of the little bell, which bears the inscription " Anno 1601," is still preserved. Margaret, 
one of the daughters of Rutger Jacobsen, who laid the corner-stone of the church of 1656, 
was married in 1667 to Jan Jansen Bleecker, who emigrated from Meppel in 1658, and 
who was the ancestor of the Bleecker family in this state. 

Rr 



G26 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. xvui. he came peaceably to trade at the Manhattoes ;" and ended 

7^ their repulsive letter by declaring that the Dutch "as yet 

■ have made no satisfying resignation of Greenwich."* 

24 October. The Lutlicraus at New Amsterdam now informed the 

at New " director that their friends in Holland had obtained from 

\rnstcr~ 

darn. tlic "West India Company a promise that there should be 
the same toleration in New Netherland "as is the practice 
in the Fatherland under its estimable government ;" and 
as they expected a clergyman to arrive the next spring 
from Holland, they hoped they should no longer be inter- 
rupted in their religious exercises. The petition was con- 
sidered in council, and it was determined to ask, by the 
next vessel, the " further interpretation" of the "West In- 
dia Company. In the mean time, however, the ordinance 
against public conventicles must be executed. 

At Flushing, where the people had been for some time 
without any ordained clergyman, the ordinance was severe- 
ly enforced. William Wickendam, " a cobbler from Rhode 
Island," coming there, began to preach, and " Avent with 
the people into the river and dipped them." This soon 
came to the director's ears, with the additional intelligence 
that William Hallett, the sheriff, had "dared to collect 
conventicles in his house," and had permitted Wickendam 
to preach and administer sacraments, "though not called 
s Nov. thereto by any civil or ecclesiastical authority." Hallett 
enforced was therefore removed from office, and sentenced to a fine 

against the p^„ , -ii-ic ni-ii 

Baptists at of fifty pouuds, or, in deiault of payment, to be banished. 
Wickendam was fined one hundred pounds, and ordered to 
be banished. As he was poor, and had a family, the fine 
was remitted ; but he was obliged to leave the province.t 

29 Dec. The English settlers at West Chester having sent to 

Affairs at ° . . . '=' 

oost-dorp. New Amsterdam a double nomination of magistrates for 
the next year, Captain Newton, Secretary Van Ruy ven, and 
Commissary Van Brugge were directed to go there and ad- 
minister the oath of office to the three persons selected, and 
the oath of allegiance to the actual inhabitants. Embark- 

* Hazard, ii., 363-365 ; Hutchinson, i., 189 ; Trumbull, i , 228, 229. 
t Alb. Rec, xiii., 140, 274-277 ; Cor. Classis Amsterdam ; O'Call., ii., 320, 321 ; Doc. 
Hist. N. Y., iii.. 106. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 627 

ing early in the morning in an open toat, the commission- ch. xvm. 
ers passed safely "through Hell-gate, and by the fast-an- 
chored Brothers, to the kill in front of Oost-dorp." It was g^ p^^ ' 
late on Saturday evening when they arrived ; and as they 
wished to return to New Amsterdam the next day, they 
asked that the inhabitants might be summoned to meet 
early in the morning. But the Puritan settlers "were in 
no way so inclined ;" and the commissioners were obliged 
to tarry over Sunday. Secretary Van Ruyven, attending si vt-c 
service, found a gathering of about fifteen men and twelve 
women. There was no clergyman. " Mr. Baly made a 
prayer, which being concluded, one Robert Bassett read a 
sermon from a printed book composed and published by an 
English minister in England. After the reading, Mr. Baly 
made another prayer, and they sung a psalm and separa-' 
ted." The next day the new magistrates were sworn in, 1657. 
and most of the inhabitants took the oath of allegiance, dur- ^ ^^"' 
ing their residence in the province. On their return to New 
Amsterdam, the commissioners submitted a report to the 
council, embracing several points in which the English set- 
tlers felt aggrieved ; and a dozen muskets and a quantity 3 Jan. 
of ammunition were sent to Oost-dorp, as the savages wereiow'^dto 
becoming insolent, because the inhabitants having submit- itant" 
ted to the provincial government. Pell, who had purchased 
the land from them, required that they should either re- 
turn his money, or " free him from the Dutch nation."* 

For a long time, as we have already seen, the cities of 
Holland had possessed certain municipal privileges, and 
their burghers had enjoyed certain peculiar rights. In 
1652, a modification of the old system was adopted atcrcatand 
Amsterdam; and its burghers were divided into the two burgher- 
classes of " G-reat" and " Small." All those who paid five Amster- 
hundred guilders were enrolled as G-reat burghers. They ^"^ 
had the monopoly of all offices, and were exempted from 
attainder and confiscation of goods. The Small burgh- 
ers paid only fifty guilders, and had only the freedom 



* Alb. Rcc, XV., 8 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii., 921-926 ; O'Call., ii., 315, 316 ; Bolton's West 
Chester, ii., 101. 



628 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XVIII. of trade and the privilege of becoming members of the 
oruilds.* 
'• This example was soon followed in New Amsterdam. 
Its inhabitants, while they welcomed all who came in- 
tending to make New Netherland their permanent home, 
were exceedingly jealous of itinerant traders ; and it had 
become the established law that those who wished to en- 
gage in commerce must keep "fire and light" in the prov- 
ince. Manhattan, too, had been declared, in the charter 
of Freedoms, to be the emporium of New Netherland, and 
had been invested with the important privilege of " sta- 
ple right." The residents, however, found that their me- 
tropolitan immunities were constantly infringed ; and ev- 
ery year larger numbers of " Scotchmen," or peddlers, came 
over, who, proceeding at once into the interior, finished 
their trade, and returned to Europe without contributing 
22 Jan. any thing to the advantage of the country. The burgomas- 
the author- ters and schepens of New Amsterdam, therefore, address- 

ities of -IT ■ c 1 1 

New Am- ed a petition to the director, setting forth these circum- 

stcrdam for . . . , . 

burgher stauccs, aiid aslviug that, in consideration of the burden.s 

privileges. i t i i 

which the citizens were obliged to bear, and the loyalty 
they had always exhibited, they should be favored with 
" some privileges." As the "burgher right" was "one of 
the most important privileges in a well-governed city," they 
prayed that no persons except city burghers should be al- 
lowed to carry on business in the capital, and none but 
" settled residents" to trade in " any quarter hereabout, 
without this place." 
30 Jan The provincial government considering the petition fa- 

Concession ^ i - i i • • i ii i r 

of Great vorably, ordained that " the arriving traders, before sell- 

snd Small -^ . i , i i ^ , 

burfjuer- ]ng their goods, should " set up and keep an open store 
within the gates and walls" of New Amsterdam, and ob- 
tain from the burgomasters and schepens the Common or 
Small burghcr-right ; for which they should pay twenty 
guilders to the support of the city. " In conformity to the 
laudable custom of the city of Amsterdam in Europe," a 

* Wagenaar's Amsterdam, i., 583; iii., 141-161 ; ante, p. 453. This distinctive sys- 
tem, however, not working well, was aboli.shod in IfifiS. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 639 

Great burgher-right was also established, " for which those ch. xvm. 
who may request to be therein shall pay fifty guilders. All 
such, and such only, shall hereafter be qualified to fill all -'-"'^'• 
the city offices and dignities ; II., be exempt for one year 
and six weeks from watches and expeditions ; and. III., be 
free in their proper persons from arrest by any subaltern 
court or judicial benches of this province." At the request 
of the municipal authorities, the present and future bur- 2 Feb. 
gomasters and schepens, and the director, counselors, cler- tion. 
gymen, and military officers, with their male descendants, 
were declared to belong to the class of Great burghers. Great 

burffiiers. 

The class of Small burghers was to include all natives and smaii 

. ^ . . burfTli'i-;-.. 

all who had resided in the city a year and six weeks, all 
who had married or should marry the daughters of burgh- 
ers, all who Icept stores or did business within the city, and 
all salaried officers of the company. Thus absurdly imi- 
tating an invidious policy, which the mother city was soon 
obliged to abandon, Stuyvesant attempted to establish in 
New Amsterdam that most offensive of all distinctions, an 
aristocracy founded on mere wealth.* 

In the mean time, the West India Company, embarrass- 
ed by its losses in Brazil and Guinea, and heavily in debt 
to the city of Amsterdam for the aid which it had afforded 1656. 
in fitting out the South River expedition, had ofTered to offer^or 
transfer to its burgomasters and schepens Fort Casimir and the south 
the lands in its neighborhood, where the city might estab- citrof aIm' 
lish a colony. The proposition was received with favor, 3 Mardi. 
as soon as the States G-eneral had ratified the Hartford 
treaty. Beside the hope of more effectually securing the 
Dutch possession of New Netherland, a nobler motive was 
presented. Hundreds of Waldenses, escaping from the 
persecutions of the Duke of Savoy, had fled for refuge to 
Amsterdam. There they were cordially received ; and 
the city government, not content with giving them an 29 March. 
asylum, liberally appropriated large sums from its treas- so June. 
ury for their support. With such materials, the city of 

* New Amst. Rec, ii., 704, 722-724, 741-745 ; iii., 267-272 ; Alb. Rec, vii., 389-392 ; 
XV., 54 • ante, p. 194, 243, 489. See also Kent's City Charters, 243-246. 



(330 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. xvm. Amsterdam now undertook to found a colony of its own in 
New Netherland.* 

12 July ^^ agreement was soon made, by which, for the sum of 

seven hundred thousand guilders, the company transferred 
to the city of Amsterdam all the Dutch territory on the 
Soiith River, from the west side of Christina Kill to the 
" Boomtje's Hook," now corrupted into " Bombay Hook," 

oity'scoi- at the mouth of the river. This region was named 

Anistei. " Nieuwer-Amstel," after one of the suburbs belonging to 
the city, between the River Amstel and the Haerlem Sea. 
Six commissaries were appointed by the burgomasters to 
manage the colony, who M^ere "to sit and hold their meet- 
ings at the West India House on Tuesdays and Thurs- 

conditioiis. days." A set of "conditions" was drawn up, offering a 
free passage to colonists, lands on the river side for their 
residence, and provisions and clothing for one year. The 
city engaged to send out " a proper person for a schoolmas- 
ter, who shall also read the holy Scriptures in public and 
set the Psalms." The municipal government was to be 
regulated " in the same manner as here in Amsterdam." 
The colonists were to be exempted from taxation for ten 
years ; after that time they should not " be taxed higher 
than those who are taxed lowest in any other district un- 
der the government of the West India Company in Nevr 
Netherland." Specific regulations were adopted with re- 
spect to trade ; and besides the recognitions payable to the 
West India Company on goods exported from Holland, four 
per centum was to be paid in New Netherland.! 

j6 August. All these arrangements were ratified and confirmed by 
the States G-eneral, upon condition that a church should 
be organized and a clergyman established as soon as there 
were two hundred inhabitants in the colony. Prepara- 

* Hoi. Doc, XV., 1, 2, U7, 118, 191 ; Commelin's Amsterdam, 115-117 ; Wagenaar's Am- 
sterdam, i., 594 ; Lambrcchtsen, 03-65 ; Report of Mr. Sidney Lawrence to the Senate of 
New York, 3d February, 1844, Sen. Doc, No. 42, page 6. 

t These "conditions" arc appended to the second edition of Van der Donck's Descrip 
tion of New Netherland, which was published this year; ante, p. 561, note. Transla 
lions arc in Ilaz.ard, ii., r)43 ; j., N. Y. 11. S. Coll., i., 291 ; ii., 1, 238 ; O'Call., ii., 328. Ab 
fitracts are in S. Hazard, Ann. Tenn., 220; Dunlap, ii.. Appendix, xii. Duiilap errs in 
dating them in 1623, and in making them refer to New Amsterdam. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. CySl 

tions were immediately made to organize the colony, of cn. x\w 
which Jacob Alrichs, an uncle of Beck, the vice-director 
at Cura(;oa, was appointed director. Martin Kregier, of j^^^^\^^' 
New Amsterdam, upon Stuyvesant's "good report," was^^^j.*^'' 
commissioned as captain of a company of sixty soldiers, ^ ^*'''- 
and Alexander d'Hinoyossa, who had formerly served in 
Brazil, was made lieutenant. Ordinances were also pass- 9 Dec. 
ed requiring the colonists to take an oath of allegiance to 
the States Greneral, the burgomasters of Amsterdam, and 
the director and council of New Netherland, and likewise 
to promise faithfully to observe the articles which defined 
their duties and obligations to the city. These, among 
other things, required them to remain four years at New 
Amstel, unless they gave satisfactory reasons for leaving, 
or repaid, within the proper time, the expenses incurred on 
their account. 

The West India Company informed Stuy vesant of all 19 Dec. 
these arrangements, and instructed him to transfer the ter-instruc-' 
ritory which the city had purchased to Alrichs on his ar- stuyve- 
rival in New Netherland. At Forts Christina and New 
G-ottenburg, " now called by us Altona and the island of 
Kattenberg," he was to maintain for the present a small 
garrison. " The confidence which we feel," they added, 
" about the success and increase of this new colony, and 
of which we hope to see some prominent features next 
spring, when to all appearance large numbers of the exiled 
Waldenses, who shall be warned, will flock thither as to an wawen- 
asylum, induces us to send you orders to endeavor to pur- 
chase, before it can be accomplished by any other nation, 
all that tract of land situated between the South River and 
the Hook of the North River, to provide establishments for 
these emigrants."*' 

About one hundred and sixty-seven colonists embarked 25 Dec. 
in three vessels — the Prince Maurice, the Bear, and thetionofcoi- 
Flower of G-uelder — and set sail from the Texel on Christ- 
mas-day. Evert Pietersen, who had passed a good exam- 

* Hoi. Doc, viii., 138-177; xv., 6-10, 119, 121, 184, 191-203; Alb. Rec, iv., 223 ; xviii., 
400 ; S. Hazard, Ann. Penn., 223, 225, 226 ; Lambrechtsen, 649. 



632 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XVIII. ination before the Classis, accompanied the emigrants as 

schoohTiaster and Zieken-trooster, "to read God's word 

and lead in singing," until the arrival of a clergyman. A 

storm separated the squadron ; and, after a long voyage, 

the Prince Maurice, with Alrichs, Kregier, D'Hinoyossa, 

Van Sweringen the supercargo, and most of the emigrants 

1657. on board, struck about midnight on the south coast of 

Shipwreck Loug Island, at a place called " Sicktewacky," or Secon- 

isiand"^ tague, near Fire Island Inlet. The next morning, the crew 

and passengers escaped through the ice to a barren shore, 

" without weeds, grass, or timber of any sort to make a 

fire." The shipwrecked emigrants were visited before long 

\-2 yumh. by some of the neighboring Indians, by whom Alrichs sent 

a letter to Stuyvesant imploring help. 

Yachts were immediately dispatched from New Amster- 
dam, and the duector went in person to the scene of the dis- 
20 March, astcr. The emigrants and most of the cargo were brought 
in safety to New Amsterdam, where the other vessels had 
1-2 April, meanwhile arrived. In a few days, Stuyvesant, in obedi- 
Fort casi- cncc to the Company's orders, formally transferred to Al- 
richs. " richs " the Fortress Casimir, now named New Amstel, with 
all the lands dependent on it, in conformity with our first 
purchase from and transfer by the natives to us on the 
nineteenth of July, 1651, beginning at the west side of the 
Minquas, or Christina Kill, named in their language Sus- 
pencough, to the mouth of the bay or river included, named 
Boomtje's Hook, in the Indian language Canaresse, and 
this as far in the country as the limits of the Minquas' land." 
17 April. A vessel was immediately chartered, and Alrichs sailed for 
sail to the the South River, with from one hundred and twenty-five 
.!r. to one hundred and eighty emigrants. Upon his arrival at 

New Am- Fort CasiiTiir, Alrichs received from Jacquet a surrender of 
ued. his authority, and the government of the colony of New 
Amstel was formally organized.* 

The region north of Christina Kill remained under the 
jurisdiction of the West India Company, in obedience to 

* Alb. Rec, xii., 405-411 ; xv., 124, 125 ; S. Hazard, Ann. Penn., 229-233 ; O'Call., ii., 
335; Lond. Doc, iv., 173; N. Y. Col. MSS., iii., 344; Letter of Classis of Amst., 23th 
May, 1657 ; Montanus, 124 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iv., 131 ; ante, p. 520. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 633 

whose orders the name of Fort Christina was changed to ch. xviii. 

that of " Altona." It had been Stuvvesant's intention to~ 

1657 
continue Jacquet in command of this territory ; but com- ^^^nona. 

plaints of his misgovernment having been made by Aller- jac^uet ' 

ton and others, the director ordered him to transfer the^y'^^^^^g 

company's effects to Hudde. This was done ; and Jacquet, 24 May. 

on his return to Manhattan, was arrested and prosecuted.* 

During the first few months of Ahich's directorship, New 
Amstel prospered. In the absence of a clergyman, the re- 
ligious instruction of the colonists was superintended by 
Evert Pietersen the " Voorleezer," who had accompanied 
them from Holland. The Classis of Amsterdam, however, 9 March, 
soon commissioned Domine Everardus Welius, a young weiius. 
man of much esteem " in life, in studies, in gifts, and in 
conversation," to take charge of the congregation ; who 
sailed for the South River in company with about four 25 May. 
hundred new emigrants. On their arrival, a church was 21 August. 
organized, of which Alrichs and Jean Williams were ap- New Am- 
pointed elders, and Pietersen "fore-singer, Zieken-trooster, 
and deacon," with a colleague. The municipal govern- 
ment was now remodelled ; the town was laid out ; build- 
ings were rapidly erected ; industry promised success ; and 
thirty families were tempted to emigrate from Manhattan 
to the flourishing colony of New Amstel. t 

The Gravesend memorial which Grover had carried to English 
Cromwell the last year awakened the attention of the gov- territorial 
ernment at Whitehall; and a statement of "the English 
rights to the northern parts of America" was prepared, in 
which Cabot's voyage and the Virginia and New England 
patents were assumed to give the English the "best gen- 
eral right," the Dutch were roundly affirmed to be intrud- 
ers, and the absurd story was gravely repeated that King 
James had granted them Staten Island " as a watering- 
place for their West India fleets." It was, therefore, ad- 
vised that the English towns at the west of Long Island 

* Alb. Rec, XV., 138, 139, 140-151, 187 ; S. Hazard, 233-236 ; Acrelius, 418-421. ^ 

t Letter of Classis of Amsterdam, 25th May, 1657; Pietersen to Classis, I2th August, 
1057 ; 12th December, 1659 ; Alb. Rec, iv., 237, 247 ; vii., 406 ; xii., 417-449 ; Hoi. Doc, 
XV., 213-252 ; xvi., 196-200 ; O'Call., ii., 336, 337 ; S. Hazard, Ann. Penn., 237-241. 



634 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XVIII. should be "very cautious of making themselves guilty ei- 
ther Df ignorant or willful betraying the rights of their na- 
tion, by their subjecting themselves and lands to a foreign 
state."* 

Letter of A letter was accordingly addressed bv the Protector to 

Cromwell o ^ .; 

to English "the English well-affected inhabitants on Long Island, in 

Island." America," which Grover, having conveyed to Grravesend, 

insisted should be opened and read. The magistrates, how- 

24 August, ever, declined, until they had consulted Stuyvesant, who at 

once ordered Grrover to be arrested, and brought, with his 

papers, to New Amsterdam. Hearing of this, the English 

14 Sept. in the neighboring villages called a meeting in Jamaica 

"to agitate ;" and it was proposed at G-ravesend to send a 

messenger to inform Cromwell of the " wrongs and injuries 

which we receive here from those in authority over us." 

The director, however, was neither intimidated nor thrown 

30 October, off liis guard. He discreetly sent the letter, unopened, to 

stuyvesant the Amsterdam Chamber, so as not to be accused by the 

to the Am- n i • n • i • ^ ii 

.sterdam di- Lord Protcctor " of the crime oi opening his letter or break- 
rectors. . , . T 1 T 1 ■ • r 

ing his seal, or to be censured by his own superiors lor 

" admitting letters from a foreign prince or potentate, from 

which rebellion might arise. "t 

Lutheran In the mean time, the Lutheran congregation at Arn- 

sent^to sterdam had taken measures to send out a clergyman, John 

N6W NctU" ___ " 

eriand. Emcstus Groetwatcr, to organize a church and preach at 
Manhattan. Neither the West India Company nor the 
Classis of Amsterdam were consulted. " We can not yet 

7 April, resolve," wrote the directors to Stuyvesant, " to indulge the 
Lutherans with greater freedom in the exercise of their re- 
ligious worship than we allowed them in our letter of the 
fourteenth of June, 1656." Upon learning that Goetwa- 

2sMay. tcr had actually sailed, the Classis informed their minis- 
ters at New Amsterdam that the company's intention was 
to permit " every one to have freedom within his own 

* Thurloe, v., 81-83 ; Hazard, i., 602-605 ; ante, p. 620. The question of title has been 
considered, aiite^ p. 4, 44, 90, 144, 189. It may be added tliat, in the opinion of Louis XIV., 
the right of the Dutch was " the best founded," and for the English to call them " intrud- 
ers" was "a species of mockery." — Let. D'Estrades, iii., 340. 

t llol. Doc, ix., 165-168, 269, 271 ; Alb. Rec, iv., 265 ; Gravesend Records ; O'Call., 
ii., 342-345. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 635 

dwelling to serve (lod in such a manner as his religion re- ch. xviii 
quires, but without authorizing any public meetings or con- ;; 
venticles." 1^^' 

The arrival of Groetwater at New Amsterdam was the e jui) . 
signal for fresh troubles. The Dutch clergymen represent- at^New'" 
ed the inconvenience of allowing the Lutherans to organ- dam. " 
ize a church ; and Groetwater was cited before the civil au- 
thorities. Having frankly admitted that "he had no other 
commission than a letter from the Lutheran Consistory at 
Amsterdam," he was directed not to hold any meeting or 
do any clerical service, but regulate his conduct according 
to the placards of the province against private conventicles. 
At the instance of the Established clergy, he was soon aft- 4 Sept. 
erward ordered to return to Holland. Against this the Lu- re'tunf. 
therans protested in vain ; and Groetwater's ill health alone 
induced the director to suspend the execution of his harsh le October 
decree.* 

New England had, meanwhile, been maturing her sys- 
tem of intolerance, and " Laud was justified by the men 
whom he had wronged." Among the independent sects to The people 
which the political troubles in England had given rise, Quakers. 
none had gone quite so far as "the people called Quakers." 
Under the preaching of George Fox, the son of a weaver 
at Drayton, numerous converts to a benevolent faith had 
declared their emancipation from the creeds and ceremo- 
nies of all existing ecclesiastical organizations. The dis- 
ciples of Fox soon found their way to America ; and their 
fervid enthusiasm alarmed the governments of New En- 
gland. Several of them were imprisoned at Boston, and 
" thrust out of the jurisdiction." A special statute was 
passed that none of the " cursed sect" should be brought 
into Massachusetts. This was followed by a law forbid- h October. 
ding all persons to "entertain and conceal" a known Qua-ofMassa" 
ker ; and the unhappy sectarians were threatened, on con- 
viction, with the loss of ears, and with having their tongues 
bored with a red-hot iron. New Plymouth, Connecticut, 

* Alb Rec, iv., 234; xiv., 223, 405; Cor. Classis Amst. ; Letters or22d May, 5th and 
14th August, 22d October, 1657 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii., 104 ; ante, p. 617, 626. 



636 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

<;h. XVIII. and New Haven adopted similar statutes. But Rhode Isl- 
and, nobly true to her grand principle of religious liberty, 
,3 Qg^^^g^ steadily refused. "These people," she replied to Massa- 
ofRhode^ ohusetts, "begin to loathe this place, for that they are not 
Island. opposed by the civil authority."* 

Unhappily, the spirit of Massachusetts rather than that 

of Rhode Island seems to have moved the government of 

b August. New Netherland. An English ship, the " Woodhouse," ar- 

arriveat rivcd at Ncw Amsterdam, with a number of Quakers on 

New Am- 
sterdam, board, among whom ■ were several of those who had been 

banished from Boston the previous autumn. Two of these 
persons, Dorothy Waugh and Mary Witherhead, began to 
preach publicly in the streets, for which breach of the 
law they were arrested and imprisoned. A few days aft- 
erward they were discharged ; and the ship, with most of 
14 August, her Quaker passengers, sailed onward, through Hell-gate, 
Rhode isi- to Rhode Island, "where all kinds of scum dwell, for it is 
nothing else than a sink for New England."! 

Case of But Robert Hodgson, one of the Quakers, wishing to re- 

Robert ••IT-wl- T Tll« 

irodgHoii. mam m the Dutch province, went over to Long Island. At 
Flushing he was well received. On visiting Heemstede, 
however, where Denton, the Presbyterian clergyman, min- 
istered, Hodgson was arrested and committed to prison, 
whence he was transferred to the dungeon of Fort Amster- 
dam. Upon his examination before the council, he was 
convicted, and sentenced to labor two years at a wheel- 
barrow, along with a negro, or pay a fine of six hundred 
guilders. After a few days confinement, he was chained 
to a barrow, and ordered to work ; and upon his refusal, 
was beaten by a negro with a tarred rope until he fell 
down. At length, after frequent scourgings and solitary 
imprisonments, the suffering Quaker was liberated, at the 

* Hazard, ii., 347, 349, 551-554 ; Col. Laws Mass., 122, 123 ; Col. Rec. Conn., 283, 284 ; 
Hutchinson, i., 181, 454 ; Ilancrott, i., 451-453 ; ii., 326-354 ; Ilildreth, i., 401-406. 

t Letter of Megapolensis and Drisius to Classis, I4th August, 1057 ; Hutchinson, i., 
180, 181; Besse, ii., 162; Hazard, Reg. Penn., vi., 174; Thompson's L. I., ii., 73, 288. 
The Quakers who came to New Netherland in the Woodhouse wore Christopher Holder, 
John Copeland, Sarah Gihbons, Dorothy Waugh, and Mary W'itherhoad, who had been 
banished from Boston the year before, and Humphrey Norton, Robert Hodgson, Richard 
Dowdney, William Robinson, and Mary Clarke. 



i 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 637 

intercession of the director's sister, Anna, widow of Nicho- ch. xviu 
las Bayard, and ordered to leave the province. 

In defiance of the ordinance against conventicles, Henry 
Townsend, one of the leading inhabitants of the new set- 
tlement of Rustdorp, or Jamaica, had ventured to hold 
meetings at his house. For this offense he was sentenced is sejn 
to pay an " amende" of eight Flemish pounds, or to leave towmmi,,) 
the province within six weeks, under pain of corporeal pun- 
ishment. This was followed by a proclamation somewhat 
resembling the enactments of Massachusetts. Any person prodaimi- 
entertaining a Q,uaker for a single night was to be fined against 
fifty pounds, of which one half was to go to the informer ; 
and vessels bringing any Quaker into the province were 
to be confiscated. Upon its publication at Flushing, where 
Townsend formerly resided and had many friends, a spirit- 
ed remonstrance to Stuyvesant was drawn up by Edward 
Hart the town clerk, and signed by the inhabitants. They 27 Dec. 
refused to persecute or punish the (Quakers, because " the strance or 
law of love, peace, and liberty in the state, extending to 
Jews, Turks, and Egyptians, as they are considered the 
sons of Adam, which is the glory of the outward state of 
Holland, so love, peace, and liberty, extending to all in 
Christ Jesus, condemns hatred, war, and bondage." Ap- 
pealing to their charter, they declared that they would 
not lay violent hands upon any who might come among 
them in love. This remonstrance, bearing the names of 
twenty-nine of the inhabitants, and of Henry and John 
Townsend of Jamaica, was carried to New Amsterdam by 
Tobias Feake, the schout of Flushing. 

Stuyvesant's indignation was instantly aroused. Feake 1658. 
was arrested ; and Farrington and Noble, two of the mag- Mati'is-"" 
istrates, with Hart, the town clerk of Flushing, were sum- FrusWng 
moned to Fort Amsterdam. Noble and Farrington, crav- ''"'"* ^ 
ing pardon for having subscribed the remonstrance, were 
forgiven upon promising good behavior; and Hart, its au- 10 January, 
thor, after three weeks imprisonment, was pardoned upon 
his humble submission and the intercession of several of 23 January. 
his neighbors. The weight of Stuyvesant's vengeance fell 



638 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XVIII. upon the schout.. In the face of the placards of the direct- 

or and council, Feake had ffiven lodofin^s to " that heret- 
1658 • o D 

ical and abominable sect called Q,uakers," and he had been 

foremost in composing and procuring signatures to "a se- 
as January, ditious and detestable chartabel." He was, therefore, sen- 
tenced to be degraded from his office, and to pay a fine of 
two hundred guilders, or be banished. To prevent future 
disorders " arising from town meetings," Stuyvesant soon 
afterward determined to modify the municipal franchise 
which Kieft's patent had assured to Flushing. It was, 
26 March, therefore, decreed that seven of the "best, most prudent, 
tionof and most respectable" inhabitants should be chosen as a 
charter." " Vroedschap," or board of counselors, with whom the 
schout and magistrates should consult, and that whatever 
they might all agree upon respecting the local affairs of the 
town should be " submitted to by the inhabitants in gen- 
eral." As there had now been no " good, pious, and ortho- 
dox" minister there since Doughty's departure for Virginia, 
the authorities were directed to procure a proper clergy- 
man, to be supported by a tax of twelve stuyvers on every 
morgen of land ; and all persons who should not submit to 
this arrangement were to dispose of their property and 
leave the place.* 

These severe measures against Flushing did not check 
the spread of Quakerism elsewhere. Henry Townsend, of 
Rustdorp, undeterred by his former sentence, was again 
brought before the council, and, confessing that he had dis- 
10 Jan. regarded the placards of the government, was sentenced to 
be fined one hundred pounds Flemish. Upon his refusal 
to pay this fine, Townsend was imprisoned in the dungeon 
of Fort Amsterdam, until his friends procured his release 
" by giving the oppressors two young oxen and a horse." 
Gravesend. The doctriucs of Fox fouud a welcome reception among the 
Anabaptists of Oravcsend ; and John Tilton, its town clerk, 
convicted of lodging a Quaker woman, was fined twelve 
Flemish pounds. Viewing the "raising up and propaga- 

* Alb. Rec, xiv., 1-CR, IGO-IT.-!, 275 ; xix., 275 ; Sewel's Hist., 217-219 ; Besse, ii., 182- 
184 ; O'Call., ii., 347-35.") ; Thompson's L. I., ii., 72-74, 288-292 ; ante, p. 410. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 639 

ting a new, unheard-of, abominable heresy called Quakers," ch. xviii. 
as a sign of Grod's judgment, the director and council pro- 777" 
claimed a day of fasting and prayer throughout the prov- 39 jgn 
ince. At Heemstede, where the Presbyterians had already pro^cV^^ed. 
shown their zeal against Hodgson, the magistrates, observ- 
ing many seduced from "the true worship and service of 
Grod," ordained that no person should entertain or have any 13 April. 
conversation with the people called Quakers. But the per- 
secuted sectarians, refused admittance into the houses, per- 
sisted in holding their meetings in the woods. The wives 
of Joseph Scott and Francis Weeks were presently arraign- is Apni. 
ed before the village magistrates for attending a conventi- 
cle, " where there were two Quakers," and were each fined 
twenty guilders. Symptoms of disaffection also appear- 
ed at Breuckelen ; and three persons were summoned by 26 March. 
Tonneman, the schout, for not contributing to the support len. 
of Domine Polhemus. The excuses they pleaded — that 
they did not belong to the Established Church, and did 
not understand Dutch — were pronounced " frivolous," and 2 Apni. 
each was fined twelve guilders. These measures against 
sectarianism and non-conformity were accompanied by an 
ordinance setting forth that as it had become common for 15 Jan. 

^. • 1- 1 • c 1 • T Ordinance 

parties to put on marrying for a long time after their banns respecting 
had been proclaimed, " which is directly in contravention 
of, and contrary to the excellent order and customs of Qur 
Fatherland," all persons must thenceforward be married 
within one month after the proclamation of their banns, un- 
less they could give a good excuse.* 

The beginning of this year was marked by a very im- New Am- 
portant concession to the citizens of New Amsterdam. Its affairs. 
burgomasters and schepens were at last allowed to nom- 
inate a double number of persons, from whom the new mag- 
istrates were to be chosen by the director. It was now 
found that the division of the citizens into two classes pro- 
duced inconvenience, in consequence of the small number 
who, by being enrolled as Great burghers, were eligible to 

* Alb. Rec, xiv., 12-26, 168-184 ; New Amst. Rec, i., 79, 80 ; iii., 25, 26, 85-87 ; Cor. 
Classis Amst. ; Besse, ii., 196, 197 ; Thompson's L. I., ii., 11, 12, 291. 



640 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YOKK. 

ch. XVIII. office ; and the government was obliged to enlarge that un- 

popular order. A double list of candidates was then sub- 
1658 
28 Jan Hiitted to Stuyvesant, who sent it back the next day, ob- 

uon of'^" J acting that it was not properly signed, and that the nom- 
trafeT ination had not been made in the presence of the schout. 
31 Jan. fj«|^g informality was corrected ; and the director and coun- 
2 Feb. cil selected and confirmed the new magistrates from the 
candidates proposed by the municipal authorities. No con- 
cession, however, was made respecting a separate schout, 
which office De Sille continued to fill for two years longer. 
Foreign Foroign residciits had now become so numerous, that the 

residents. i i • 

government thought it necessary to order that the procla- 
mations against smuggling should be translated into French 
and English. New Amsterdam, however, though its com- 
mercial prosperity seemed to be assured, was by no means a 
Fire appa- well-regulatcd city. Most of its houses were wooden ; and 
the risk of destruction appeared so great, that the burgo- 
masters and sohepens were authorized to demand one bea- 
ver, or its equivalent, from each householder, to pay for two 
hundred and fifty leather fire-buckets, to be procured in 
Rattle Holland, and for hooks and ladders. A "rattle watch," to 
do duty from nine o'clock at night until morning drum- 
Popuiared- beat, was also established. The education of youth, though 
not neglected, had hitherto been imperfect; and volunteer 
instructors were not regarded with favor. Jacob Corlaer, 
who had undertaken the duty of a teacher, was interdict- 
ed by Stuyvesant, notwithstanding the remonstrance of the 
city authorities, because he had presumed to take the office 
on himself without authority from the provincial govern- 
ment. The attention of the West India Company had al- 
ready been called by Domine Drisius to the advantage of 
establishing a Latin school at New Amsterdam, and the 
project had been favorably received. In exhibiting the con- 
dition and wants of the city to the Amsterdam Chamber, 
19 Sept. the burgomasters and schepens represented that the inhab- 
schooide- itants were desirous to have their children instructed in 
people.^ ^ the most useful languages, especially Latin, and were will- 
ing to build a school-house. As the nearest place where 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 641 

they could send them for classical instruction was Boston, ch. xvni. 
they urged that a suitable master of a Latin school should 
be sent over ; " not doubting but, were such a person here, 
many of the neighboring places would send their children 
hither." Thus New Amsterdam might "finally attain to 
an academy, whereby this place arriving at great splen- 
dor, your honors shall have the reward and praise."* 

To promote agriculture, and establish " a place of amuse- 4 March. 
ment for the citizens of New Amsterdam," the government lem. 
resolved to form a village, to be called " New Haerlem," 
at the northern part of Manhattan Island, "in the vicinity 
of the lands of Jochem Pietersen Kuyter, deceased." Large 
privileges were offered to persons disposed to settle them- 
selves there; and a good road was to be made, "so that it 
may be made easy to come hither and return to that vil- 
lage on horseback or in a wagon." A ferry to Long Isl- Road anu 
and was to be established, so that correspondence with the 
English might be encouraged ; a court was to be organ- 
ized ; and " a good orthodox clergyman" was to be settled 
as soon as the place should contain twenty-five families. 
It was more than two years, however, before New Haer- 
lem contained inhabitants enough to entitle it to the pat- 
ent which Stuyvesant promised.! 

Staten Island and the country in its neighborhood con- statcn isi- 
tinued to feel the effects of the Indian massacre of 1655 ; ''" ' 
and Melyn, leaving New Netherland, from the authorities 
of which he had suffered so much injustice, toolc an oath 
of fidelity to the government of New Haven. Van de Ca- 1657. 
pellen, however, sent out fresh colonists, and endeavored '^ ^''"'' 
to encourage the former settlers to return to their deserted 
homes. To secure the good-will of the savages. Van Dinck- 10 jniy. 
lagen, his agent, repurchased from the sachems of Tappan, ed from uk- 
Hackinsack, and its neighborhood, their hereditary rights 
to the whole of the island, which they called " Eghquaous," 
and concluded with them a treaty of peace and alliance, 
" with submission to the courts of justice at Hospating, 

* Alb. Rec, iv., 268 ; xiv., 65, 87-99, 233 ; New Amst. Rec, i., 73, 74 ; iii.. 46-54, 87, 
88, 230-234, 336-339. t Alb. Rec, vii., 420-422 ; xiv., 130-133, 422 ; xxiv., 368, 369. 

Ss 



642 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

CH. XVIII. near Hackingsack, on Waerkimins-Connie, in New Nether- 
land." This transaction thwarted the policy of the West 
■ India directors, who insisted that all the land titles should 
pass through them or their provincial authorities. Stuy- 
23 Dec vesant was accordingly ordered to declare Van Dinckla- 
gen's purchase void ; to procure for the company the In- 
dian title ; and then to convey as much land to Van de Ca- 
pellen as he might require.* 
1658. In order to hasten the settlement of the country on the 
Purchase wcst sidc of the North River, and quiet doubts respecting 
in New*'"' title, Stuyvcsaut formally purchased from the Indians all 
Jersey. ^^iq territory now known as Bergen, in New Jersey, "begin- 
ning from the great rock above Wiehackan, and from there 
right through the land, until above the island Sikakes, and 
from there to the Kill van Col, and so along to the Con- 
stable's Hook, and thence again to the rock above Wie- 
Gamoeiie- hackan." The farmers at " Gramoenepa," or Communipa, 

pa, or Com- i • i • 

munipa. who had bceu forced to desert their settlements in 1655, 
now petitioned to be restored to their former homes. The 
director promptly complied with their request ; but, to 
guard against future danger from the savages, required 
them to concentrate their dwellings, so that a village 
might eventually be incorporated there.t 

20 May. 'jhe Wcst India Company, having now been informed 

Letter of . . ,, 

the West of Stuyvesaut's proceedings against Goetwater, approved 
pany re- of what had bccn done, " though it might have been per- 
the Luther- formed ill a more gentle way." As the chief reason why 

ana. n ^ j 

the Lutherans wished to separate themselves from the pro- 
vincial Church was the use of a "new formulary" of bap- 
tism, it was recommended that the old Liturgy, "adopted 
in the times of the Reformation," be followed as less oflens- 
Modcration ive ; and that more moderate measures should be employ- 

etijuined. _ , pi ■ i p ■ i 

ed, "so that those ot other persuasions may not be fright- 
ened away throvigh such a preciseness in the public Re- 
formed Church there, but by attending its Sv^.rvices may 

* Alb. Rec, iv., 2Q5, 258, 259; viii., Ifil ; O'Call., ii., 425, 426, 575. Van Dincklagon 
died probably in the autumn or winter of 1657 ; certainly before the 2d April, 1658. 

t Alb. Rec, xiv., 27, 28, 82, 8."} ; New Amst. Rec, ii., 212 ; iii., 143 ; Whitenead s East 
Jersey, 20, 21 ; New Jersey Bill in Chancery, 1745, p. 5 ; ante, p. 537. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 643 

in time be attracted and gained." And in subsequent dis- Ch. xvm. 
patches the directors, wishing that nothing should be left 
untried to win the Lutherans "by moderation and forbear- jgjune 
ance," ordered that the "old formulary, word for word," [^'^y^"™^^. 
should be used in the New Netherland churches. "**'"• 

These instructions were communicated by Stuyvesant 19 August, 
to the Dutch clergymen at New Amsterdam ; who, feeling 
that they were unjustly accused of " too great preciseness," 
drew up an elaborate defense, which was submitted to the 23 August 
director and council. The question, however, being one of 
an ecclesiastical nature, the whole subject was referred to 24 sept. 
the Classis of Amsterdam. In their letters to the Classis, tionsoftue 
Megapolensis and Drisius gave an interesting account of at New 
the state of religion in the province; and, in view of the dam. 
rapid growth of other sects, earnestly entreated that "good 
Dutch clergymen" should be speedily sent over ; as, be- 
sides themselves, Schaats at Beverwyck, Polhemus at Mid- 
wout, and Welius at New Amstel, were now the only min- 
isters of the E,eformed Church in New Netherland. 

Scarcely had these letters been dispatched before three 30 sept. 
persons, "suspected of being Quakers," came over the river from com- 
frora G^amoenepa to New Amsterdam, and were brought 
before the director and council for examination. Their par- 
ticular offense seems to have been that they had entered the 
court with their heads covered. As they had committed 
no other impropriety, they were merely ordered to be sent 
back to Communipa. They then asked to be allowed to » 

go to New England. But Stuyvesant, unwilling, perhaps, 
to offend his Puritan neighbors, peremptorily refused, and 
warned them not to return to New Amsterdam.* 

The Jesuit missions in Western New York had, mean- 
while, undergone great vicissitudes. Leaving Chaumonot 
at Onondaga, Dablon returned to Canada to urge the es- 

* Alb. Rec, iv., 266, 275, 277 ; xiv., 223, 369, 403 ; Cor. CI. Amst. ; Letter of Megapo- 
lensis and Drisius, 24th September, 1658. In another letter of 25th September, Megapo- 
lensis recommended to the Classis his son Samuel, then " going into his 25th year," who, 
after studying Latin and English at the " Academy of New England in Cambridge," now 
went to the Fatherland to complete his education at the University of Utrecht. After 
taking his degrees in Theology and in Medicine, Samuel was ordained to the ministiy, 
and returned to New Netherland in 1664 ; post, p. 730. 



644 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XVIII. tablishment of a French colony among the Iroquois. The 
governor yielded a ready assent, and Father Le Mercier, 
2 March * ^^^ supcrior general, accompanied by Dablon and five other 
ei^n'at"'^ missionaries, with fifty Frenchmen under the command of 
?7"May.^"' ^'^® Sicur Dupuys, set out for Onondaga. Entering Lake 
iijuiy. Cienentaha, on the shores of which they designed to pitch 
their camp, they remarked the salt fountains on the east- 
ern side, where in the spring there gathered " so great a 
quantity of pigeons, that thousands are caught of a morn- 
ing. A grand salute of five pieces of cannon, breaking the 
silence of the forest, announced their arrival to " the an- 
!2juiy. cients of the country." Formal possession was taken in 
the name of Christ ; cabins were soon constructed for the 
17 July. French colonists ; and a redoubt, the ruins of which were 
yet visible fifty years ago, was built on an eminence com- 
manding the eastern shore of the lake. At the grand coun- 
84 July, cil, the superior, Le Mercier, and Ohaumonot, "who spoke 
the Iroquois language as well as the natives of the coun- 
try," explained the Roman faith ; and hope whispered that 
St. Mary's, " Saint Mary's, of Genentaha," was to be the pledge of 
taha. union between Onondaga and Christendom. 
Opposition The Mohawk delegates to the grand council of the con- 
tawks. federation, disliking the alliance between the Onondagas 
and the Canadians, " made a harangue full of sneers and 
Friendship ridicule agaiust the French." But the Cayugas sought in- 
yugas, ' struction in the faith ; and Father Rene Mesnard and two 
and senc- Frenchmen were sent to their villages. The Oneidas, too, 
asked for a teacher ; and early the next year, Chaumonot 
passed on toward the Senecas, in the hope of founding a 
permanent mission. Thus France pushed her influence 
westward, beyond the beautiful valleys of Onondaga ; and 
the Jesuit Fathers carried the cross from the banks of the 
Feeiines of Mohawk to the borders of the Grenesee. The unjealous 
colonists. Dutch colonists rejoiced at their settlement in those coun- 
tries, and wished to bring them " horses and other things." 
The Amsterdam directors, however, viewing the presence 
OftheWestof the Jcsuits in the West with less favor, instructed Stuy- 
i^nmacom ^gg^nt to be upou his guard. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 645 

But supplies from (Quebec soon began to fail ; and the ch. xvia. 
savages, finding that they received no presents, relaxed ~~~ 
their regard for Christianity as they withdrew^ their affec- 
tions from the French. The warlike spirit of the Iroquois 
was unchanged. The Eries suffered under their exterm- 
inating wrath ; several Huron converts were massacred ; August. 
and three Frenchmen were surprised by a band of Onei- 
das near Montreal. A general conspiracy seemed to have 
been formed to cut off the Jesuit missionaries. D'Aille- November. 
boust, who had succeeded De Lauzon in the government ([uois again 
of Canada, retaliated by imprisoning all the Iroquois with- ' 
in his province. This step produced a violent commotion 
among the cantons ; but the wary warriors, postponing 
their vengeance, entreated Father Le Moyne, who was 
now among the Mohawks, to go to Quebec and intercede 
for their captive countrymen.* 

Le Moyne, however, instead of going to Canada, passed 1658. 
the winter in New Netherland. He had frequently been J^^rlJ^w"* 
to Fort Orange with the Mohawks ; and now took the op- dalm.'^*^ 
portunity to make a first visit to New Amsterdam, where 
a number of Roman Catholics were residing. During his 
stay at the Dutch capital, he formed a warm friendship ms mtima- 

. . . cy with Me- 

with Megapolensis, whose early missionary efforts among gapoiensis. 
the Mohawks led him to look with lively interest, if not 
with entire sympathy, on the zealous labors of the Jesuit 
fathers. On this occasion, Le Moyne communicated to his 
friend an account of his visit, in 1654, to the "salt fount- 
ains" at Onondaga. In detailing this information to the 
Classis of Amsterdam, however, the Domine could not 
help adding, somewhat uncourteously, " I will not debate 
whether this is true, or whether it is a Jesuit lie."t 

Stuyvesant availed himself of Le Moyne's presence to 
obtain, through his influence, a permission from the gov- 

* Alb. Rec, iv., 222; Relation, 1655-6, 1656-7; Creuxius, 770; Charlevoix, i., 322- 
328 ; Bancroft, iii., 144, 145 ; Clark's Onondaga, i., 152-179 ; ii., 146, 147 ; Doc. Hist. N. 
Y., i., 45; ante, p. 612. 

t Letters of Megapolensis to Classis of Amsterdam, of 24th and 28th September, 1658; 
ante, p. 592. These letters contain interesting details about the Mohawks, or, as " they 
call themselves, Kayingehaga," the restoration of Jogues' mi.ssal, ritual, &c., and the 
zealous efforts of Father Le Moyne to convert his Dutch clerical friend to the Roman faith. 



646 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. xviii. ernor of Canada for Dutch vessels to trade in the Saint 
Lawrence. D'Ailleboust promptly wrote to the father that, 

18 Feb ^^ view of the friendship between the Netherlands and 
b^tweeT^ France, the Dutch might open a commerce with Canada 
^^f^,j^^^^" whenever they pleased, provided they refrained from trad- 
canada. jj^g -^^jj;]^ ^j^g savagcs, and from the public exercise, on 

shore, of " the religion which is contrary to the Roman." 
7 April. The governor's letter was immediately sent to New Am- 
sterdam by the kind-hearted father, who was then at Fort 
Orange. The merchants of New Amsterdam hastened to 
avail themselves of this opportunity to extend their com- 
« July. merce ; and a bark was presently cleared for Quebec, with 
a cargo upon which all duties were remitted, in considera- 

f'lrst tion of its being the " first voyage" from Manhattan to Can- 
voyage. " J r> 

ada. But the unlucky pioneer vessel, in entering the Saint 
Lawrence, was wrecked on Anticosti. 
fcbruary. In tlic mean time, the French colonists of Onondaga had 

Distress of i • ■ r • ^ i i -r> <• 

the French passcd a wmtcr ot anxiety and alarm. Kumors oi a gen- 
ga. ° '^ oral rising of the Iroquois constantly reached their ears ; 
and there was no hope of succor from Q,uebec. Early in 
the year numerous bands of Mohawk, Oneida, and Onon- 
daga warriors took the field. Dupuys, informed by a con- 
verted savage of the plot against him, now resolved to re- 
treat with his countrymen into Canada. But no means 
of conveyance were ready, and the enemy was alert and 
watchful. Light boats were secretly built in the large 
store-house, where none of the savages were allowed to en- 
ter. When all was ready, the Onondagas were invited to 
a feast. Trumpets and drums drowned the preparations 
for departure. While the revelry was at its height, the 

19 March. Frcncli worc noiselessly embarking on the lake. A heavy 

sleep overpowered the unsuspecting savages ; and long be- 
fore they awoke from their lethargy, Dupuys and all his 
80 March, countrymcn, abandoning their chapel and their cabins, 
ment of the were safc beyond pursuit, working through the floating 

mission. . ,i • -i ^ i ^ 

ice their perilous way to Canada. 

Thus ended the attempt of France to found a colony 
-■^^thin the present territory of New York. Le Moyne had 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 647 

already left the Mohawk country ; and the next year, the ch. xvin. 

Iroquois, whose warriors were estimated to number more 

than two thousand, were again in open hostility with the ^^^ j^^ ' 

Canadians. As long as New Netherland continued to be ^"^^l^r^wu" 

a Dutch province, the enmity of the Mohawks against the'**^ French. 

French could scarcely be allayed ; though the milder Onon- 

dagas sought to bury the hatchet of war, and the bell, which 

had called the faithful to worship in the chapel of the Jes- IGGl. 

uits, summoned the deputies of the Western Iroquois to 

the council of peace.* 

In the mean time, the settlers who had been driven away Esopus 

iTi- • -t n fr r- 1 1 i !• colonists*. 

from bisopus by the Indians m 1655, had returned to their 
farms, hoping that, with the restoration of peace, they 
should enjoy security. But, in spite of all proclamations, 
the farmers persisted in isolating themselves from each 
other, and in buying peltries from the savages for brandy. 1658. 
Outrages naturally followed. One of the settlers was kill- 1 May. 
ed, the house and outbuildings of another were burned, the sav- 
and the Dutch were forced, by threats of arson and mur- 
der, to plow up the patches where the quarrelsome savages 
planted their maize. At this time there were between six- 
ty and seventy colonists at Esopus, who had just sowed 
nearly a thousand " schepels" of grain. " We pray you to 2 May. 
send forty or fifty soldiers," wrote they to Stuyvesant, "tomanded. 
save the Esopus, which, if well settled, might supply the 
whole of New Netherland with provisions."! 

The Amsterdam Chamber had already instructed their 
director to build a redoubt at Esopus for the protection of 
the inhabitants, and had sent out an additional military 
force and a supply of ammunition. Stuyvesant now went as May. 

1- • ^ ^ r^ j_ti t n - Stuyvesant 

up the river, accompanied by uovert Loockermans and ntty visits eso- 
soldiers. The morrow after he reached Esopus was As- 
cension day ; and the people, having no church, assembled so May. 
at the house of Jacob Jansen Stol to keep the festival. The 

* Alb. Rec, xiv., 275; Stuyvesant's Letters; Fort Orange Rec. ; Relation, 1657-58, 
1659-eO; Charlevoix, i.,32&-338; Bancroft, iii., 145-148; Ilildreth, ii., 91 ; Clarli's Onon- 
daga, 1., 179-189 ; O'CalJ., ii., 363-365 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., i., 45-55. 

t Alb. Rec, xiv., 265 ; xvj., 7-13. To this day the flat lands along the creeks in Ulster 
county are proverbial for their fertility. 



648 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XVIII. director immediately recommended them to form a village, 

which could easily be palisaded, and afford them full pro- 

Tiie coio- Section ; hut the colonists objected that it would be incon- 

vised to venient to remove their residences while their crops were 

["""atEso- y^t ungathered, and that it would be difficult to select a 

''"'*■ site for a village which would please all. They, therefore, 

asked that the soldiers should be allowed to remain with 

them until after harvest. This the director refused, but 

promised that, if they would agree at once to palisade the 

ground for a village, he would stay with them until the 

work should be completed. 

Word had meanwhile been sent to the neighboring chiefs 

to come and meet the " grand sachem from Manhattan ;" 

30 May. and some fifty savages, with a few women and children, 

soon appeared, and seated themselves under an old tree. 

The director went to meet them, accompanied by two fol- 

conference lowcrs and an interpreter. One of the chiefs made a long 

with the c 77- • c 1 

savages, harauguc, recitmg the events oi Kieit s war, and the losses 
which his tribe had then suffered. The director replied 
that the general peace had settled all the questions con- 
nected with that war. "Has any injury been done yon," 
he demanded, " since that peace was made, or since I came 
into the country ?" " Your sachems have asked us, over 
and over again, to make a settlement among you. AVe 
have not had a foot of your land without paying for it, nor 
do we desire to have any more without making you full 
compensation. Why, then, have you committed this mur- 
der, burned our houses, killed our cattle, and why do you 
continue to threaten our people ?" After a long pause, one 
of the chiefs replied, "You Swannekens have sold our chil- 
dren drink. The sachems can not then control the young 
Indians, nor restrain them from fighting. This murder has 
not been committed by any of our tribe, but by a Minni- 
sinck, who is now skulking among the Haverstraws." " If 
this be not stopped," rejoined Stuyvesant, " I shall have 
to retaliate on old and young, on women and children. I 
expect that you will repair all damages,. seize the mur- 
derer if he come among you, and do no further mischief. 



PETER STU YVES ANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 649 

The Dutch are now going to live together in one spot. It ch. xviii, 
is desirable that you should sell us the whole of the Eso- 
pus land, as you have often proposed, and remove further 
into the interior." Thus ended the conference ; and the In- 
dians departed, promising to consider well what had passed. 

The settlers, adopting Stuyvesant's advice, now signed si May. 
an agreement to form a village, the site of which they left out af eso- 
to the director's judgment. He accordingly chose a spot^"''' 
at a bend of the kill, where a water-front might be had on 
three sides ; and a part of the plain, about two hundred 
and ten yards in circumference, was staked out. 

A few days afterward, while the Dutch were busily at 
work stockading their village, a band of savages was ob- 
served approaching, and the soldiers were ordered to stand 4 June, 
by their arms. But the visit of the Indians was one of cession of 
peace. They had come to give the land on which the vil- tile sa"- ^ 
lage was commenced as a present to the grand sachem of ^^^^' 
the Hollanders, " to grease his feet, as he had taken so long 
and painful a journey to visit them." The work now went 
merrily on. In three weeks the palisade and ditches were 
completed, the buildings removed, a bridge thrown over 
the kill, and a guard-house and temporary barracks built. 
Stuyvesant detailed twenty-four soldiers to remain as a 
garrison; and, after seeing the new village fairly started, 24 June. 
he took leave of Esopus and returned to the capital.* 

The next month witnessed the settlement of the diffi- Juiy. 
culties between the provincial government and the author- of difficui- 
ities of Rensselaerswyck. In place of the tenths demand- erwyck. 
ed by Stuyvesant, the colonists agreed to pay a yearly con- 
tribution of three hundred schepels of wheat. About the 
same time, John Baptist van Rensselaer was succeeded as 
director of the colonic by his brother Jeremias, who contin- Jeremias 
ued for sixteen years to manage its affairs with discretion seiaer di- 
and acceptance. He soon acquired a great influence among Rensse- 
the neighboring savage tribes, and was sincerely respected 
by the French in Canada.! 

* Alb. Rec, iv., 248; xvi., 15-35; Kingston Rec. ; O'Call., ii., 357-362. 
t Renss. MSS. ; O'Call., ii., 310, 551, 552; ante, p. 624. 



650 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. xviii. In the mean time, the Mohawks had obtained from the 

Canadian government the release of some of their captive 

iooo. -^vai-fiort;. Six of them, liowever, were detained until the 

May. ' _ ' 

Iroquois sachems should come in person and make a gen- 
13 Ausust. eral treaty of peace. Several Mohawk chiefs now visited 
at p-ort Or- Fort Orange to procure an interpreter to go with them to 
Canada, as they did not understand the French tongue. 
But Le Moyne had now returned home, and the Dutch au- 
thorities did not know of any one who could serve their 
purpose. The Mohawks were dissatisfied. "When you 
were at war with the Indians," they replied, "we went to 
the Manhattans, and did our best to make peace for you. 
You are, therefore, bound to befriend us now." The Dutch 
could not resist this appeal ; and the public crier was sent 
around to offer a bounty of one hundred guilders for a vol- 
15 August, unteer. One of the soldiers, Henry Martin, agreeing to 
furn^shed"^ go, was furnishcd with a letter from Vice-director La Mon- 
Dutch. tagne to La Potherie, the governor of the Three Rivers, and 
accompanied the savages under a promise to be brought 
safely back in forty days. When near the Three Rivers, 
Martin lost himself in the woods ; and ten of the Mohawks, 
presenting themselves to La Potherie without La Mon- 
tagne's letter, were seized as spies, and sent as prisoners to 
Argenson, the new governor general of Canada, who " did 
good justice" upon them for the recent murder of some 
Algonquins under the very guns of Q,uebec.* 

15 October. Before the winter set in, Stuyvesant revisited Esopus, to 

provide for its security and obtain some further concessions 

16 October, from the Indians. The savages demurred, and adroitly en- 
revisits dcavorcd to divert him from his purpose by promising a 

large trade with the Minquas and Senecas, if the Dutch 
would furnish them with ammunition. After waiting sev- 
eral days, the director found that the chiefs would not yield 
to his wishes ; and, from their anxiety to have the soldiers 
removed, he suspected them of treacherous designs as soon 
as the closing of the river should isolate the settlers. On 
19 October, his rctum to New Amsterdam, he, therefore, left a garrison 

* Relation, 1657-58, C0-C9 ; Charlevoix, i., 338, 339 ; O'Call., ii., 3C6, 307 ; ante, p. 047. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 651 

of fifty men, under the command of Ensign Dirck Smit, ch. xvin. 
with instructions to keep a steady watch, act only on the 
defensive, allow no Indians inside the stockade, and detail pj^^^ smit 
a proper guard for the protection of the farmers while work- ^°'^'"'^'"^" 
ing in the fields.* 

On the South River, New Amstel — where several ship- souiu riv. 
wrecked Englishmen from Virginia, whom Alrichs had ran- 
somed from the savages, had become residents — began to 
wear an appearance of prosperity, and was now "a goodly 
town of about one hundred houses." An inevitable con- conse- 
sequence, however, of the establishment of the city's col- tue estab- 
ony was the increase of smuggling. The revenue suffered New Am- 
severely, and the regular traders complained. The colo- 
nists at New Amstel seemed to think themselves inde- 
pendent of the company and of its provincial authorities 
at New Amsterdam. These and other considerations in- 
duced the council to advise Stuyvesant to go there, and 
correct all irregularities in person. 

Accompanied by Tonneman, the director accordingly set 20 Apru. 
sail for the South River. On his arrival at Altona, the 8 May. 
Swedes were called upon to take the oath of allegiance visits ai-" 
which was required of all the other colonists. This they 
willingly took, and at the same time asked for certain spe- 
cific favors ; among others, that they should be allowed to 
remain neutral in case of war between Holland and Swe- 
den. Some of these requests were evaded ; others were 
granted ; and the Swedes were allowed to choose their own 
officers. On his return to New Amsterdam, Stuyvesant 13 May. 
informed the council that "many things are there not asthecouncu 
they ought to be ;" smuggling and fraud had prevailed, by 
reason of the shipments to the city colony ; and Alrichs, 
though he now promised amendment, had entirely omitted 
from the oath, required of the newly-arrived colonists, any 
mention of the West India Company and of their provin- 
cial authorities of New Netherland. 

Fearing that the English from Virginia would endeavor 
to intrude at Cape Hinlopen, " as they before tried it from 

* Alb. Rec, xiv., 380 ; xvi., 41-59 ; O'Call., ii., 367-370. 



652 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Ch, xvih. the side of New England," the West India directors now 

recommended that Ah-ichs should " disentansrle himself, in 
1658 
28 May the best manner possible," from the Englishmen whom he 

had allowed to -settle at New Amstel, and, " at all events, 
not to admit any English besides them in that vicinity, 
7 June. much Icss to allure them by any means whatever." A few 
tions ofthedays afterward, they instructed Stuyvesant to purchase 
pany'to buy from the Indians the tract between Cape Hinlopen and 
Cape Hin- the Boomtjc's Hook, so that it might be afterward legally 
conveyed to the commissaries of the city of Amsterdam. 
"You will perceive," they added, "that speed is required, 
if for nothing else, that we may prevent other nations, and 
principally our English neighbors, as we really apprehend 
that this identical spot has attracted their notice." " When 
we reflect on the insufferable proceedings of that nation, 
not only by intruding themselves upon our possessions 
about the North, to which our title is indisputable, and 
when we consider the bold arrogance and faithlessness of 
those who are residing within our jurisdiction, we can not 
expect any good from that quarter." 
30 July. To maintain the rights and authority of the company, 

Beeckman Stuy vcsant immediately appointed Willem Beeckman, " an 
vfce".di-*^ expert and respectable person," and one of the earliest 
magistrates of New Amsterdam, as commissary and vice- 
director on the South River. Beeckman, however, did not 
as October, receive his instructions until late in the autumn. They 
man's in- required him to live at first at Altona, but to have his per- 
' manent residence at or near New Amstel, where he could 
more conveniently attend to the collection of the revenue. 
He was invested with all the powers of the company on 
the whole of the South River, except the district of New 
Amstel, and was bound to maintain the Reformed relig- 
ion. With regard to the proposed purchase, he was to act 
in concert with Alrichs, and obtain a deed from the In- 
dians as soon as possible. 
Failure of The prosperity of New Amstel had, meanwhile, become 
and sick- ' cloudcd. Thc colonists had planted in hope ; but heavy 
New Am- rains setting in, their harvest was ruined, and food became 

stel. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 653 

scarce and dear. An epidemic fever broke out ; the sur- ch. xviii. 
geon and many children died ; and most of the inhabit- 
ants suffered from a climate to which they were not ac- 
customed. While the disease was yet raging, the ship 
" Mill" arrived from Holland, after a disastrous voyage, September. 
bringing many new emigrants, among whom were several 
children from the Orphan House at Amsterdam. The lo October. 

. Ai 11-1 11T Population 

population of New Amstel now exceeded six hundred ; but 
its inhabitants were "without bread," and the ship which 
brought the new emigrants brought no supply of provi- 
sions. Industry was crippled, while wages advanced ; 
Commissary Rynvelt and many " respectable" inhabit- 28 October 
ants perished, and a long winter stared the famished sur- 
vivors in the face.* 

In the autumn of 1658, an important event happened in 
England. After raising his country to a prouder position 
among the nations of the earth than she had ever before 
held, the grand adventurer Cromwell died, in the zenith s Sept. 

1-1 1- • r-i-- Death of 

of a power which eclipsed the maiesty of lemtimate kinsfs. oiiver 

'>'''-' '--' Cromwell. 

The night before his death was stormy. The wind blew 
a hurricane. Trees were uprooted in the Park at West- 
minster, and houses were unroofed about the London Ex- 
change. The Roundheads asserted that &od was warn- 
ing the nation of the loss it was about to suffer ; while 
the Cavaliers maintained that the Prince of the power of 
the air was hovering over Whitehall to seize the soul of the 
expiring Protector. 

The reins of government fell quietly into the hands of 
Oliver's oldest son, Richard. But the feeble young man 
was not the heir of his father's great qualities. He sign- 1659. 
ed a commission for the dissolution of Parliament, andDownfoii 
found that he had signed his own act of abdication. The tectome.**^ 
army again became supreme. Monk marched his sol- 
diers across the Tweed ; and before many days it was cer- 
tain that Charles the Second would be restored to the 
throne of his ancestors.! 

* Alb. Rec, iv., 273, 274 ; viii., 185 ; xii., 285, 456-485; xi v., 227-249, 314, 386-392; 
Hoi. Doc, xvi., 57-79 ; O'Call., ii., 372-375 ; S. Hazard, Ann. Penn., 239-254 ; ante, p. 633. 
t Lingard, xi., 298-300 ; xii., 1-60 ; Macaulay, i., 136-147 ; Bancroft, ii., 23-28. 



654 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



1659. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

1659-1660. 

Though the treaty at Hartford had not been ratified hy 
the English government, and the New England colonies 
had taken no steps to procure such ratification, its provi- 
sions had now, for several years, met a general and quiet 
acquiescence. Up to this period, whatever annoyance had 
been caused to the Dutch province by the progress of En- 
glish encroachment at the East, had been chiefly caused 
by Connecticut and New Haven. But the time had come 
for Massachusetts to take a step which brought her in di- 
rect conflict with New Netherland. 
Eastern The Hartford treaty had settled the boundary "be- 

ofNew tween the English United Colonies and the Dutch prov- 

Nether- 

land. ince" on the main land, as extending from the west side 
of Greenwich Bay on a northerly line " twenty miles up 
into the country, and after, as it shall be agreed by the 
two governments of the Dutch and of New Haven, provid- 
ed the said line come not within ten miles of Hudson's Riv- 
er." That treaty had been solemnly signed by the pleni- 
potentiaries of the New England commissioners, of whom 
Simon Bradstreet, of Massachusetts, was one. Massachu- 
setts, however, now found it convenient to understand the 
agreement as extending only " so far as New Haven had 

Territorial jurisdiction." Under her own charter, she claimed all the 

claims of . . - i • i 

Massachu- American territory between a line three miles south of the 
Charles River and a line three miles north of the Merrimac 
River, and extending west from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 
The most northerly of these lines was claimed to be three 
miles north of the outlet of the Winnipiseogee Lake. The 
southernmost was at about the forty-second parallel of 



I 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. Q55 

latitude. If extended westward, it would have crossed the ch. xix. 
Hudson River, near Red Hook and Saugerties. The be- ~ 
ginning of the forty-third degree of latitude now forms the 
southern boundary of the State of New York, from the Del- 
aware River to the county of Erie, in Pennsylvania. All 
the territory as far north of this line as the present coun- 
ties of Warren and Oswego, in the State of New York, and 
as far west as the Pacific Ocean, was claimed by Massa- 
chusetts, in virtue of her patent from Charles the First.* 
Nor did Massachusetts hesitate to assert her extravagant 
demand, under a charter which was eight years younger 
than that of the West India Company, and which, as far 
as it interfered with New Netherland, was " utterly void." 
A grant of land on the Hudson River, opposite to Fort Or- Massachn- 
ange, was made to a number of her principal merchants, fandoif "he 
who were "enterprising a settlement and a trade with theRwer"" 
Indians." Early in the summer, an exploring party, set- 
ting out from Hartford, sailed "up the North River, and Exploring 
spent several weeks in examining its attractive shores. 
Finding the region around the Wappinger's Kill more 
beautiful than any they had seen in New England, they se- 
lected a spot near its mouth as the place of their proposed 
settlement. Thence proceeding up to Fort Orange, theyjuiy. 
were honorably received and entertained by Commissary 
La Montague. The region between the North River and 
the valley of the Connecticut being yet a wilderness, the 
English party asked Stuyvesant for permission to pass and 
repass by water. This, however, he refused ; for he fore- Refused 
saw that such a settlement in the heart of the Dutch prov- ro™v1grt" 
ince would be fatal, "as many hounds are death to theRTvrr"'' 
hare." To prevent the English, he' determined to estab- 
lish a Dutch settlement at the Wappinger's Kill, and earn- 4 sepi. 
estly entreated the Amsterdam Chamber to send out im- Dmcrset 
mediately as many Polish, Lithuanian, Prussian, Dutch, wirp^p"n 
or Flemish peasants as possible, to form a colony which ° 
should protect the yachts sailing up and down the river.t 

♦Hazard, i., 571, 591 ; Hutchinson, i., 191, 192; Journal N. Y. Prov. Assembly. 8th 
March, 1773 ; Dunlap's N. Y., ii., Appendix, ccv.-covii. ; Revised Statutes N. Y., i., 64 ; 
ante, p. 189, 519, 520. t Alb. Rec, xviii., 31-34 ; xxiv., 215 ; Hutchinson, i., 150. 



tlement at 
Vappin- 
er's Kill. 



656 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XIX. Yielding to the earnest solicitation of the citizens of New 
Amsterdam, the AVest India Company reluctantly consent- 
13 F^b ^^ ^^^^ their province, which had already been allowed to 
M^and^ai^-'' ^radc for slaves on the coast of Africa, should now try the 
M^n^trade^ " experiment" of a foreign commerce with France, Spain, 
Italy, the Carribean Islands, and elsewhere, upon condition 
that the vessels should return with their cargoes either to 
New Netherland or to Amsterdam, and that furs should be 
exported to Holland alone. This concession was followed' 
by another, perhaps quite as important. The "vigilant ex- 
ertions" of the directors to provide New Amsterdam with 
25 April, a Latin schoolmaster resulted in the engagement of Doc- 
Latin tor Alexander Carolus Curtius, a professor in Lithuania, 

sctioolmas- rrl^■^■^^ i 

ter. at a salary of nve hundred guilders, and some perquisites 

In the course of the summer the "rector" arrived at New 

4 July. Amsterdam; and, on commencing his duties, was allowed 
by the city government two hundred guilders yearly 
Curtius likewise practiced as a physician.* 

13 Feb. The Amsterdam directors also enjoined Megapolensis and 

Drisius to obey the former orders of the Chamber, and, "to 
prevent schism and promote tranquillity," directed them to 
follow the old form of baptism without waiting for the spe- 
cial directions of the Classis of Amsterdam. Finding that 
the metropolitan clergymen hesitated, these orders were re- 

22 Dec. newed. All moderate ministers in Holland, they were told, 

aiity in re- lookcd upou the new formulary as an " indifferent" subject, 

joined by and as Wanting the unanimous sanction of the Church. 

uy. Harmony could never be preserved, unless a too " overbear- 

ing preciseness" should be avoided ; and, if they should 
persist in their former course, the company would be 
obliged to allow the Lutherans a separate church of their 
own. At the same time, the directors promised to send 
out other Dutch clergymen to New Netherland ; but these 
must be " men not tainted with any needless preciseness, 
which is rather prone to create schisms than it is adapted 
to edify the flock."t 

* Alb. Rec, iv., 390, 291, 303; viii., 201 ; xviii., 19; xxiv., 193; New Amst. Rec, i., 
97, 98 ; iii., 378, 381 ; iv., 209 ; ante, p. 640 ; Paulding's New Amsterdam, 42. 
+ Alb. Rec, iv., 28S, 323, 324 ; viii., 195 ; ante, p. 643. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 6e57 

The letters which Megapolensis and Drisius had sent to ch. xix. 
the Fatherland the last autumn awakened the attention ~~ 
of the Classis of Amsterdam to the spiritual wants of New 
Netherland ; and earnest representations on the subject clergymen 
were addressed to the College of the XIX. It was difficult 
to induce any settled clergyman to leave his charge in Hol- 
land ; but the Classis encouraged Hermanns Blom, a can- 
didate for the ministry, to come out to New Amsterdam, 
where he arrived at the end of April. Esopus now seemed Apni. 
most in want of a clergyman ; and its inhabitants, though 
anxious for a settled minister, had, up to this time, been 
obliged to content themselves with the services of a com- 
forter of the sick, who read to the people, in one of the 
houses, on Sundays and festivals. Blom accordingly vis- Biom caii- 
ited the new village, where he preached two sermons. The pus. 
people immediately organized a church, and presented the i- August. 
candidate with a call to become their pastor, which, hav- 
ing accepted, he returned to Holland, to pass his examin- September 
ation before the Classis and receive ordination.* 

The war now raging between the Iroquois and the French Temper or 
seemed to excite a thirst for European blood among the oth- ages. 
er savage tribes. Two soldiers who had deserted from 
Fort Orange were murdered near the Tachkanic Mount- 31 Juiy. 
ains, while on their way to Hartford. The next month, 
some Raritans, tempted by a roll of wampum, massacred 20 August. 
a family at Mespath Kill, on Long Island. At Esopus Esopus. 
great fear prevailed ; for the savages had already begun to 
complain that Stuy vesant had not given them their prom- 
ised presents. The folly of the Dutch soon brought on 
another collision. Thomas Chambers, one of the original 
settlers, having employed several Indians to husk his corn, September, 
at the end of their day's work gave them some brandy for 
which they asked. A carouse followed ; and one of the 
savages about midnight fired off his gun. The garrison at 
the block-house was alarmed, and the sergeant of the guard 
was sent out to see what was the cause of the disturbance. 
On his return, he reported that it was only the revelry of 

* Hol. Doc, ix., 102, 103 ; Cor. CI. Amst., Letter of lOlh September, 1659. 

Tt 



660 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Ch. XIX. attacked by the Canada Indians, who were always accom- 
panied by "skulkinsr" Frenchmen. 

While the conference was yet going on, intelligence 
came from Fort Orange of the new outbreak at Esopus, 
which was immediately communicated to the Mohawks. 
The chiefs replied that if the river Indians should endeav- 
or to obtain their assistance against the Christians, they 
would answer " we will have nothing to do with you !" 

«5 Sept. The firm friendship of the most powerful tribe of the Tro- 

Returii of . '■ i i t-> i i i 

thedeiega- quois bcmg uow sccurcd, the Dutch delegates set out from 

tion to Bev- L , ,, ■ t r 

irwyck. Caugliuawaga early the next mornmg ; and, after a hard 
day's journey upon the Indian trail, along the banks of the 
Mohawk, and across the barren pine plain of "Schonowe" 
— now so pleasantly traversed in the "rapid car" — arrived, 
the same evening, at Beverwyck.*' 

The courier from Esopus had, meanwhile, reached New 

93 Sept. Amsterdam, where a severe epidemic fever was raging. 
Ill, and troubled by the news which had also come from 
the South River, Stuyvesant hastened to visit the neigh- 

30 Sept. boring settlements ; called upon the city authorities for vol- 

Eirpedition i i i • i • j i » i 

to Esopus. unteers ; and ordered mto service the company s people at 
Fort Orange and Beverwyck. The burghers of the me- 
tropolis, however, while they were ready to defend their 
own firesides, were reluctant to go upon a distant expedi- 
tion. Few volunteers offered themselves ; and a draft from 
the city militia was directed. At length, one hundred 
drafted men and forty volunteers from New Amsterdam, 
and twenty-five English and as many friendly Indians 
from Long Island, were collected. With this force Stuy- 

10 October. vesant embarked on Sunday evening, "after the second 
sermon ;" and, on reaching Esopus, found that the savages, 
unable to carry or reduce the post, had broken up the siege. 
Heavy rains having flooded the country around, it was im- 
possible to pursue the enemy; and the expedition returned 
to the capital. 

The Mohawks and Mahicans now exhibited the sincer- 
ity of their friendship ; and, at the suggestion of the au- 

* Fort Orange Rec. ; Renss. MSS. ; O'Call., ii., 389-393 ; ante, p. 346, 523, 61 1. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. ggl 

thorities at Fort Orange, a number of their chiefs went ch. xix. 
down to Esopus, where they procured the release of two 
prisoners, and compelled the sachems to agree to a truce. , ll^v 
The savages, however, would not consent to a permanent ^rlhe m*^ 
peace, nor would they surrender the younger captives in'"'^''^- 
their hands. Stuyvesant, therefore, represented the con- 26 Dec. 
dition of the province in earnest terms to the Amsterdam menll^Jsk 
Chamber ; and urged that re-enforcements be sent at once company'" 
for the security of the country, whose inhabitants would 
otherwise leave it, and seek for " some place of residence 
and such government where they will be protected."* 

The opening of this year found New Amstel in deep dis- Distress ai 
tress. Disease and famine had almost decimated its pop- stei. 
ulation, and the heat of the summer had enfeebled the un- 
acclimated survivors. The wife of the director was one of e Jan. 
the victims. Every one had been occupied in building 
houses and in preparing gardens, so that little grain was 
sown ; and the emigrants from Holland brought very scanty 
supplies of provisions, " Our bread magazine, our pantry 
room, our only refuge is to Manhattan," wrote the despond- March, 
ing Alrichs to Stuyvesant. 

Intelligence now reached the colony that the burgomas- 
ters of Amsterdam had altered the conditions which they 
had originally offered to emigrants. These alterations Alteration 
seemed to have been suggested by the large expenditures dition8*^by 
which the city had made for a colony which had produced nlLterftf 
no returns, and was already seven thousand guilders in ar- dam.'^'^ 
rear. To guard against further loss, it was determined that 
such colonists only as had left Holland before December, 
1658, were to be supplied with provisions ; goods should 
be sold only for cash ; the city was no longer to be bound 
to keep supplies in its magazine ; exemption from tenths 
and taxes was to cease several years before the period orig- 
inally stipulated ; and merchandise exported by the colo- 
nists was thereafter to be consigned to the city of Amster- 
dam exclusively. The commissaries of the colony, how- February, 
ever, remonstrated against this restriction of trade, which 

* Alb. Rec, xvi., 101-107; xviii., 54-70; Renss. MSS. ; O'Call., ii., 398-401. 



662 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



Cft. XIX. 



1659. 



10 March. 



Effect at 
New Am- 
stel. 



•25 April, 
'hopper 
mine at 
Minni- 
sinck. 



" had the appearance of gross slavery and chain- fettering 
■ the free spirit of a worthy people." The remonstrance was 
well-timed ; for the West India Company had just determ- 
ined to enlarge the commercial privileges of the provincial 
merchants. The city council was finally obliged to con- 
sent that all traders on the South River might export all 
goods, except peltries, to any place they chose. 

This measure only added to the difficulties of the col- 
ony. The emigrants began to grow distrustful of the good 
faith of their patrons, and numbers came to Alrichs be- 
seeching him to let them go to Manhattan, and accept the 
remnant of their property in discharge of their debts to the 
city. But the director only replied, " Ye are bound to re- 
main for four years." The despairing inhabitants began 
to leave the colony ; and even soldiers of the garrison de- 
serted their service, and took refuge in Virginia and Mary- 
land. New Amstel had already won " such a bad name 
that the whole river could not wash it off." 

Yet the regions around the South River were among the 
most fertile and productive in all New Netherland. Not 
only was there a wild luxuriance of vegetation, and an al- 
most exhaustless supply of furs, but the earth gave prom- 
ise of great mineral wealth, the fame of which had already 
reached Holland. " We lately saw a piece of mineral," 
wrote the directors to Stuyvesant, " said to have been 
brought from New Netherland, which was such good and 
pure copper, that we deemed it worth inquiring about of 
one Kloes de Ruyter, as we presumed he must know if the 
fact is as stated. He asserted that there was a copper 
mine at Minnisinck ; and that between the Manhattans 
and the South River there had been discovered a mount- 
ain of crystal, of which he said he brought several speci- 
mens with him."* 



* All). Ilec, iv., 301 ; xii., 480-485 ; IIoI. Doc, xv., 21-27 ; xvi., 215-218 ; Wugennar, 
fiesch. Amst., i., 594; ayite, p. 650; S. Hazard, Ann. Penn., 250-255. Tradition iiffirms 
tho early existence of mines in the upper valley of the Delaware, which were worked by 
"miners from Holland." Mr. Samuel Preston, in a communication to Mr. Sanmc'l Haz- 
ard, expressed himself "clearly of opinion that Menesink was the oldest European settle- 
ment of equal extent ever made in the territory afterward named Penn.sylvania." — Haz- 
ard's Reg. Penn.. i., 428, 440 ; nntf, p. 412. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 663 

The "West India Company, suspicious of the fidelity of ch. xix 
the Swedes, had meanwhile instructed Stuyvesant not to . 
appoint them to public office, and to induce them to settle jg p^^ 
themselves more at large among the other inhabitants of 
the province. Beeckman, the vice-director at Altona, was 
now ordered to complete the purchase of the territory south- 
ward of the Boomtje's Hook. He accordingly went witli23Ma.\. 
Hinoyossa to the mouth of the bay, and bought from the June, 
native chiefs the Horekills, which included the site of De oftiie iior.-- 

kills 

Vries and Grodyn's unfortunate colony at Swaanendael. A 
trading post was immediately established, and a few sol- 
diers stationed there to keep possession. 

Rumors were now spread among the Dutch that the En- Designs or 
glish in Maryland "pretend that this river country is their land gov- 
property," and that persons were soon to be sent to claim 
the possession. Letters, too, were said to have been writ- 
ten from Virginia to the Swedes, " that they might remain 
here as a free colony under the English." The messen- 
gers whom Alrichs had dispatched to reclaim the deserters 
in Maryland returned with tidings that Lord Baltimore 29 Juiy. 
had given orders that the territory on the South River was 
to be reduced under his jurisdiction. As soon as it was is August. 
known that Fendall, the governor of Maryland, was about 
to execute these orders, anxiety and alarm prevailed among 
the Dutch colonists ; business was suspended, and every 
one prepared for flight. Within a fortnight, fifty persons. Alarm at 

N8W Ani- 

including several families, removed to Maryland and Vir- stei. 
ginia. Scarcely thirty families remained at New Amstel. 
" A chief excuse for these removals," wrote Stuyvesant to4 sepi. 
the directors at Amsterdam, " is supposed to be the too 
great preciseness of the honorable Alrichs." " It would 
seem as if those of the South and North are jealous of each 
other," wrote Alrichs to his own superiors, " and dread that 
this settlement should become great and flourishing." 

The government of Maryland lost no time in executing 
their proprietary's orders. A meeting of the council was 
held at Ann Arundel, at which Governor Fendall and Sec- 
retary Philip Calvert, Lord Baltimore's brother, were pres- 



664 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



1659. 

3 August. 
Utie sent to 
New Am- 
Htel. 



[,elttr of 
the Mary- 
land gov- 
ernor. 



8 Sept. 
Utie at 
New Am- 
etel. 



Interview 
with the 
Dutch offi- 
eers. 



ent. Colonel Nathaniel Utie was directed to repair " to 
the pretended governor of a people seated in Delaware Bay, 
within his lordship's province," and require him to depart 
thence. Utie was further instructed, in case he found op- 
portunity, "to insinuate into the people there seated, that 
in case they make their application to his lordship's gov- 
ernor here, they shall find good conditions." Fendall at 
the same time wrote to Alrichs: "I received a letter from 
you directed to me as the Lord Baltimore's governor and 
lieutenant of the province of Maryland, wherein you sup- 
pose yourself to be governor of a people seated in a part of 
Delaware Bay, which I am very well informed lyeth to the 
southward of the degree forty ; and therefore can by no 
means own or acknowledge any for governor there but my- 
self, who am by his lordship appointed lieutenant of his 
whole province, lying between these degrees, thirty-eight 
and forty, but do by these require and command you pres- 
ently to depart forth of his lordship's province, or otherwise 
desire you to hold me excused if I use my utmost endeav- 
or to reduce that part of his lordship's province unto its 
due obedience under him."* 

Utie soon arrived at New Amstel with a suite of six per- 
sons, and spent some days in sowing "seditious and mu- 
tinous seed among the community." At length ho demand- 
ed an audience of Alrichs, who requested the presence of 
Beeckman, as the representative of the West India Com- 
pany. In a " pretty harsh and bitter" manner, Utie de- 
livered Fendall's letter, and peremptorily commanded the 
Dutch to leave the South River, or else declare themselves 
subject to Lord Baltimore. " This communication ajipears 
very strange to us in every respect," replied the Dutch offi- 
cers, " as we have been in possession of this land during 
so many years." " I know nothing about it," answered 
Utie ; " it was granted to Lord Baltimore, and was con- 
firmed by the king himself, and renewed two years ago, 
and sanctioned by Parliament, to the extent of forty de- 

* Alb. Rec, iv., 291 ; xii., 496, 503-506, 514; xviii., 28-39, 42, 45; Hoi. Doc, xvi.. 99, 
183-207 ; N. Y- H. S r.nll.. iji.. ,368, 369 ; Acrclius, 421, 422 ; S. Hazard, Ann. Pejui., 251, 
255-260, 273 ; ante, p. 206, 220. 2.52. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 07 1 

also obtained from Wayandanck by Richard Woodhull and ch. xix. 
others!, and settlements were besfun at Huntinsfton and Se- 
tauket, on Cromwell's Bay, now a part of the town of Brook- Huntington 
haven. The restless Underbill, finding himself at Setau- Hf ^'^"'"' 
ket, joined with the inhabitants in petitioning the Greneral 6 August. 
Court at Hartford to receive that settlement as " a member 
of the said body politic," with the same privileges which 
;:<outhampton and Easthampton enjoyed, in consideration 
of their "remoteness from the head court, and the uncer- 
tain passage over the Sound." The next spring, a similar 1660. 
request was presented from Huntington. The General '^ ^^^^' 
Court accepted the propositions of both these plantations, 
'•so far as they may be consistent with the articles of con- 
federation ;" and the next autumn liberty was granted by septtniixr 
the commissioners, to the jurisdiction of Connecticut, " to 
take Huntington and Sautaukett, two English plantations 
on Long Island, under their government." Much embar- 
rassment was caused to the people of Southampton and its 
neighborhood by the same Captain John Scott, who in 1654 captain 
had been arrested and examined at New Amsterdam, and 
who now returned to England. Claiming to have obtain- 6 octubfr. 
ed from the Indians large tracts of land, he executed nu- 
merous conveyances, which, after much litigation, were 
found to be fraudulent and void.* 

Unwilling to relinquish their purpose of establishing 1659. 
themselves on the North River, the Massachusetts adven- ^ttT"^'"' 
turers brought their case before the commissioners, who '^''"'"*'' 
wrote to Stuyvesant requesting that the planters might be it sei.t. 
allowed a free passage up the Hudson River, "they de-tbecom- 
meaning themselves peaceably, and paying such moderate 
duties as may be expected in such cases." The exact 
bounds of the Massachusetts patent "we leave to that gov- 
ernment to clear," added the commissioners, "only we con- 
ceive the agreement at Hartford, that the English should 
not come within ten miles of Hudson's River, doth not prej- 

* AJb. Rec, xviii., 168; Lond. Doc, i., 77-83 ; N. Y. Col. MSS., iii., 27-29; Col. Rec. 
Conn., 112, 200, 316, 341, 348, 365, 566, 572; Hazard, ii., 7, 18, 94, 173, 191, 384, 434; 
Trumbull, i., 235, 237; Thompson's L. I., i., 293-302, 380,408-411,433,465,484-488; ii., 
320; Hutch. Coll., 380; ante, p. 297-300, 579. 



(J74 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XIX. does not care much about its troubles, and does not want 
~~~~^ its aid. Her people are fully convinced that their power 
■ overbalances ours ten-fold ; and it is to be apprehended that 
they may make further attempts, at this opportunity, with- 
out fearing or caring for home interference." Two months 
asJuue. afterward he again \vi'ote, "the demands, encroachments, 
Kanfs dis- and usurpations of the English give the people here great 

patches to ,\ _ T T 1 11, 

iiie w. I. concern , and in succeeding dispatches, he urged the com- 
pauy to send out re-enforcements ; to station a frigate at the 
mouth of the North River ; and to put him in a position 
authoritatively and successfully to repel the characteristic 
assumption by which the English maintained that they 
alone had chartered rights to the possession of lands in the 
northern regions of America.* 

New Amsterdam now obtained w^hat she had so long 
^ April, asked in vain, a sellout of her own ; and Pieter Tonneman, 
schout of lately of Breuckelen, returning from Holland with a com- 

New Ani- . -f ' ^ . 

.sterdam. missiou fi'om the Amsterdam directors, took his oath of of- 

j August, fice, and his seat in the City Hall in place of De Sille. The 

merchants of the metropolis were also gratified by a further 

ijurgher coucession froiTi Stuyvesaut, which extended their " burgh- 

right ex- •11111 

tended. er right to all parts of the province. A second survey and 

a map of the city were made this summer by Jacques Cor- 

telyou, and New Amsterdam was found to contain three 

hundred and fifty houses. At the request of the burgomas- 

October, tcrs, thc dlrcctor sent this map, together with " a perspect- 

survey of ive vicw," wliich Heermans had made some years before, 

sterdarn. to tlic Amsterdam Chamber, in case it should be thought 

good " to make it more public by having it engraved."! 

ifi August. New Haerlem having by this time become sufficiently 

iem incor- populous to entitle it to a village government of its own, 

''° an inferior court was organized there, and Jan Pietersen, 

Daniel Terneur, and Pieter Coussen, were appointed its 

* Alb. Rcc, xviii., 89, 90, 104, 123, 140, 144 ; IIol. Doc, i.\., 160-171 ; Smith'.s Hist. N. 
Y., i., 11, 12; O'Call., ii., 403-400 ; Bancroft, ii., 310. 

• t Alb. Rec, iv., 339 ; viii., 266, 267 ; xviii., 107, 138 ; xxiv., 295 ; IIol. Doc, xvi., 221 ; 
New Amst. Rec, i., 96 ; iii., 391-395, 426 ; iv., 208, 291 ; ante, p. 623, 628, 640. Cortel- 
you's map does not appear to have been engraved, and is probably now lost ; but Heer- 
mans' sketch, having been added to the map which accompanied the second edition of 

Van der Donck's work, has been preserved ; ante, p. 561, note. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 675 

first magistrates, with a limited jurisdiction, and in subor- ch. xm. 
dination to the high tribunals of the capital. 

The recent occurrences at Esopus being considered in jg peb. 
council, in connection with the difficulties with Maryland J^'^'^ige*^ 
and Massachusetts, it was determined that hostilities with *'^°°p^' 
the savages should be postponed, and that steps should be 
taken to raise a force of at least a hundred men, "without 
distinction of nation," in Virginia, or in the North. Ser- 
geant Andries Laurensen was accordingly commissioned 4 March, 
to go to the South River, and endeavor to enlist soldiers for 
the Esopus war among the Swedes and Finns, who were 
estimated to number about one hundred and thirty men 
able to bear arms. 

The Indians around New Amsterdam now desiring a o March. 
closer friendship with the Dutch, a new treaty was made wuh the 
with the Long Island, Staten Island, Haokinsack, Haver- and and 
straw, and Weckquaesgeek tribes, to seal which more firm- dlans. 
ly, Stuyvesant required the savages to allow some of their 
children to be educated by the Dutch. "Whereas," reads 
the interesting record, " our posterity, after the lapse of 
ages, will see and know what we now speak and conclude 
together, while your posterity can not do it equally well, 
as they can not read nor write, we demand that you intrust Indian cmi- 
us with the education of some of your children." The red educated by 
men assented ; and, leaving a child at New Amsterdam, 
promised to bring others when the opportunity offered. 
The next week, the chief of the Wappingers asked that 15 Mareti. 
the Esopus savages might be included in the new treaty ; 
but the director, suspecting their sincerity, required that 
they should come in person to New Amsterdam. " They 
are too much frightened, and dare not come," replied the 
Wappinger mediator ; and Stuyvesant, hoping that his pres- 
ence might move the savages to peace, promptly set out for 
Esopus. On his arrival, he found that Ensign Smit had isMarct,. 
gone with forty men into the interior, where he had cap- at Esopus. 
tured twelve savages, and taken a quantity of corn, pease, 
and bearskins, besides the palisaded fort of "Wiltmeet." 
The prisoners and booty were ordered to be sent to New 



676 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XIX. Amsterdam, and the remaining savages to be driven across 
the Katskill. Groing up the river to Fort Orange, Stuyve- 

■^r ,» . ■ sant issued a formal declaration of offensive and defensive 

uon o?war "^^^^ agaiust the Esopus savages and their adherents, and 

^yopus ordered all vessels navigating the North River during the 

savages, hostilities to Sail in company.* 

4 April. The savages were soon attacked and routed ; and the 

chiefs from the neighboring tribes, who came to Fort Or- 

21 April, ange and Esopus to solicit peace, were referred to the di- 

24 May. rcctor general. A month afterward, three Mahican sa- 

chems visited Fort Amsterdam, and declared that the Eso- 
pus savages were willing to give up their land as a com- 
pensation to the Dutch, if they would surrender their pris- 
oners and make a firm peace. Stuyvesant, however, de- 
clined to do so as long as Christian captives remained in 

25 May. the hands of the savages. The next day, an order was 
prisoners made in council for the transportation of several of the pris- 
be sent to oncrs to Curacoa, "to be employed there or at Buenaire, 

the West . 1 .^ 

Indies. witli the ucgrocs in the company's service." In this se- 
vere measure Stuyvesant followed the example of Massa- 
chusetts in 1637. But the red men never forgot their ex- 
iled brothers ; and, before long, the Dutch settlers at Eso- 
pus bitterly atoned for the conduct of their provincial chief 
:toMay. x\gain the savages M^ere attacked. Smit, with a large 

agafnst the forcc, advauccd against their encampment, some distance 
*°^"^ above the second fall on " Kit Davit's Kill," about nine 



miles from the North River, and captured Preummaker, 
the "oldest and best of their chiefs," whom they had left, 
behind in their hurried retreat. "As it was a considera- 
ble distance to carry him," the Dutch " struck him down 
with his own axe." Meanwhile, one of the principal sa- 
chems of the tribe, after obtaining the unanimous voice of 
the warriors, and squaws, and young men, in favor of peace, 
had gone down to Communipa, to obtain the mediation of 
2 June the Hackinsack and Haverstraw chiefs. While there, news 
came that Preummaker had been killed by the Dutch ; and 
the envoy returned to his tribe with a heavy heart. The 

* Alb. Rec, xvii., 45 ; xxiv., 55-76, 115, 11&-137 ; 368, 369 ; ante, p. 641, 660. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 677 

next day, Oritany, the chief of the Hackinsacks, went over ch. xjx. 
to Fort Amsterdam, and a truce was agreed to, upon con- 
dition that he should personally visit Esopus with ClaeSgj^^j^g 
Jansen Ruyter, the Dutch interpreter.* 

Up to this time, Esopus had been a dependency of Fort 
Orange. But the people, who had already organized a con- 
gregation and called a clergyman, felt that they were now 
entitled to a municipal government of their own ; and Roe- 
/lof S wartwout, a son of one of the original settlers, who had 
visited the Fatherland and engaged several colonists to ac- 
company him to New Netherland, induced the Amsterdam 
directors to make the settlement an independent jurisdic- 
tion. Swartwout was immediately commissioned as schout, is April. 

•^ SwartwouJ 

and furnished with full instructions ; and Stuy vesant was schout or 

•' Esopus. 

ordered to induct him in office, and establish a separate 
court of justice at Esopus. This action of his superiors 
did not please the director, who wrote back that he had 25 June. 

11 • • r ^ 1 1 c Refusal of 

postponed the organization of a court for "lack of persons stuy vesanj 

'' -11 11 *" organize 

qualified to preside over it,' and that Swartwout was athecoun 

there. 

minor, and, in his judgment, incompetent. 

On learning the occurrences at Esopus the previous au- 9 Marcti. 
tumn, the directors also recommended that the Mohawks mentofMo- 

i'i<-i hawks rec- 

should be engaged to act as warriors on the side of the ommended. 
Dutch. But Stuyvesant knew the nature of the Indians 
better than his superiors in Holland. "The Mohawks," 25 June 
he replied, " are, above all other savages, a vainglorious, stuyve- 
proud, and bold tribe, and yet more presumptuous on ac- 
count of their continued victories over the French and the 
French Indians in Canada. If their aid be demanded and 
obtained, and success follow, they will only become the 
more inflated, and we the more contemptible in the eyes 
of the other tribes. * =^ * It appears the safest way to stand 
on our own feet as long as possible." The reasoning of the 
director was satisfactory to the Amsterdam Chamber, and 
the thought of employing the Mohawks was abandoned.! 
Learning that the Esopus savages were now really anx- 

* Alb. Rec, vi., 328-331 ; xvi., 125-135 ; xxiv., 253-266, 279-285 ; ante, p. 272, 396, 429. 
t Alb. Rec, iv., 331, 340, 348; viii., 314-318; xviii., 102, 103, 108. 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XIX. ious for peace, Stuyvesant set out from New Amsterdam, 

accompanied by Kregier and Van Cortlandt ; and, on reach- 

11 Juiv ^^o Esopus, found Van Curler and delegates from the Mo- 

^?fn at*"' hawks, Mahicans, Wappingers, Minquas, Hackinsacks, and 

E.SOPUS. gtaten Island Indians, awaiting his arrival to assist in the 

negotiation. But none of the Eiiopus sachems were there ; 

and messengers were sent to summon them. After wait- 

14 July, ing several days, the director invited the delegates of the 
with the other tribes to a conference, at which he explained his own 

desire to conclude a peace, and urged them to bring the 
Esopus savages to terms. His words impressed the grave 
assembly. Messengers again went into the interior; and 

15 July, the next day four Esopus sachems appeared before the 

gate of the village. All the inhabitants were now sum- 
moned to a grand council ; and Stuyvesant and his attend- 
ants, with the delegates from the various tribes, being seat- 
ed, a Minqua sachem asked a peace in behalf of the Eso- 
})us savages. To this the director assented, provided the 
Mohawks, Minquas, and other tribes would answer for its 
faithful observance. A Mohawk and a Minqua then ad- 
monished the Esopus chiefs to live with the Dutch as broth- 
ers ; and a Mohawk warned the settlers not to irritate the 

Treaty pro- savages. The hatchet was trampled in the earth; and 
Stuyvesant proposed the conditions of the treaty. Hostil- 
ities were to cease, and past injuries be forgotten ; the 
Esopus savages, in compensation for damages, were to con- 
vey " all the lands of Esopus" to the Dutch ; eight hund- 
red schepels of corn were to be paid as ransom for the cap- 
tive Christians ; future damages were to be reciprocally 
paid for ; murderers should be mutually surrendered and 
punished ; the savages were not to approach the Dutch 
plantations with arms, but might trade freely if unarmed ; 
no spirituous liquors were to be drunk near the houses of 
the Dutch ; all other friendly tribes were to be included 
in the peace ; and the mediators at the treaty were to be- 
come bound for its faithful execution, and, in case the 
Esopus savages should break it, were to assist the Dutch 

Ratified, in subduing them. These terms were accepted ; and the 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 679 

treaty was formally ratified, " near the concentration of ch. xix. 
Esopus, under the blue sky of heaven."* 

From Esopus Stuyvesant went up to Fort Orange, where 
his presence was urgently demanded. The colonists at 
Beverwyck being almost all fur traders, and competition 
increasing with the progress of population, runners or 
" bosch-loopers" from the village, like the " coureurs de Bosch-ioo;. 
bois" of Canada, perse^eringly waylaid the Indians as they orange, 
came down to tide-water. Irregularities followed ; and 
both the savages and the honest traders complained. The 
measures which had been adopted in 1650 to check this 
evil seemed to have been unavailing. The authorities now 31 May. 
interfered again ; and ordinances were passed to prohibit 26 June, 
the employment of runners. But the people would not re- 
.s})ect the law, and many declared that they would "scour 
the woods with Dutch brokers, whether permitted or not." 
The Mohawks again complained of the conduct of the 
bosch-loopers, and threatened to break their treaty with 
the Dutch, when "perhaps matters might end as at Eso- 
pus." Commissary La Montagne was at last obliged to 
visit the woods himself with a detachment of soldiers, to h juiy. 
discover and arrest the offenders, among whom were sev- 
eral of the Beverwyck magistrates. 

On reaching Fort Orange, Stuyvesant issued a procla- 21 juiy. 
mation against the bosch-loopers, and at the same time at Fort or- 
explained to the authorities of Rensselaerswyck the com- 
pany's instructions respecting jurisdiction. An oath of al- 
legiance to the company was to be taken by the colonial 
schout, and the collection of tithes was to be enforced. 
A few days afterward, several Seneca delegates came down 
from the western door of the " Long House" of the Iroquois, 
to renew the covenant with the Dutch, which they had 
made some years before at Manhattan. A grand council 25 Juiy. 
with the red men from the far-off " Niaugaurah" was held wuVthe 
at Fort Orange, which was attended by the colonial and 
provincial magistrates and by the principal residents of 

* Alb. Rec, vi., 330 ; xii., 317, 318 ; xviii., 1 18, 119 ; xxii., 227, 229 ; xxiv., 303, 318, 
320, 3-32-342 ; O'Call., ii., 408^20. 



680 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



1660. 



1 f) Feb. 
IJomine 
Hlom or- 
dained. 



•Jti March. 



[)oiniiie 
Selyns. 



1 .March. 



12 Sept. 
Blom at 
E.sopus. 



.1 Sept. 
.Selyns at 
Itreucke- 
len. 



I'opulation 
' liureh. 



Beverwyck and its neighborhood. The Senecas demand- 
ed that trade should be made free, while the bosch-loop- 
ers should be restrained ; and they asked for supplies of 
ammunition to enable them to hunt beavers in their ene- 
mies' country. Stuyvesant presented tobacco and powder 
in return, and urged the Senecas to make peace with the 
Minquas, so that the Dutch might "use the road to them 
in safety." But he could not comply with their demand 
that a piece of cloth should be the price of a beaver, as long 
as it " must come so far over the water."* 

In the mean time, Domine Blom had been ordained to 
preach in New Netherland, " both on water and on the 
land, and in all the neighborhood, but principally in Eso- 
pus," and his call had been approved by the Classis and 
confirmed by the West India Company, The want of 
another clergyman on Long Island was also supplied by 
the appointment of Domine Henricus Selyns to preach at 
Breuckelen. Blom and Selyns left Holland soon afterward, 
bearing with them a letter from the Classis to the Dutch 
churches in New Netherland, which were earnestly exhort- 
ed " not to depart from the usual formulary" of baptism. 

The troubles with the northern Indians retarded the set- 
tlement of the new clergymen ; and it was not until the 
autumn that Blom began his ministry at Esopus. The 
church at first consisted of sixteen members only. But 
the people gladly listened to the preaching of the word, 
and all was soon " well ordered in church matters and in 
consistory." 

Domine Selyns, after preaching a few sermons at New 
Amsterdam, Esopus, and Fort Orange, was formally in- 
stalled as the clergyman of Breuckelen, where he found 
one elder, two deacons, and twenty-four members of the 
church. The population of the village was now one hund- 
. red and thirty-four persons, in thirty-one families. Steps 
were immediately taken to build a church ; and, in the 
mean time, the congregation worshiped in a barn. The 



* Alb. Rec, iv.,.'}02; vi., 23G-238, 254-283 ; xxiv., 343-352; O'Call., ii., 420^24 ; ante, 
p. 523. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. QSi 

bounds of Domine Selyns' charge included "the Ferry, the ch. xix. 
"Waal-bogt, and Grujanes." As the people there were un- 
able of themselves to pay his salary, they petitioned the 
council for assistance ; and Stuyvesant individually agreed 
to contribute two hundred and fifty guilders, provided Dom- 
ine Selyns would preach a sermon on Sunday afternoons 
at the " director's bouwery, on the island of Manhattan." 
To this arrangement the Domine assented. The director's stuyve- 
" bouwery" was a sort of "stopping-place, and the pleas- Bouwery. 
ure-ground of the Manhattans." Thither the people came 
from the city to evening service ; and besides Stuyvesant's 
own household, about forty negroes, who lived in that neigh- 
borhood, received religious instruction. In announcing 
these arrangements to the Amsterdam Chamber, Stuyve- e October. 
sant urged that more clergymen should be sent over, to gymen re- 
supply the wants of New Utrecht, Grravesend, and New*^^"^*^ ' 
Haerlem, " besides a newly-commenced village of about 
one hundred and thirty families on the North River." 

After the installation of Selyns at Breuckelen, Polhemus Poihemus 

at Mid- 
confined his services to Midwout and Amersfoort, whose pe- wout. 

tition to the council for aid was answered by a promise of 4 Nov. 
four hundred guilders " as soon as the treasury shall per- 
mit it." At Beverwyok and Fort Orange, Schaats felt schaats at 
some annoyance that the Lutherans were promoting awyck. 
subscription for a clergyman of their own. Nevertheless, 
they were submissive, and attended the Dutch church, 
which had now increased to two hundred members. The church at 
church at New Amsterdam continued to flourish under the sterdam. 
ministration of Megapolensis and Drisius, although the 
question of the form of baptism seemed to have placed the 
Amsterdam Chamber for a time in direct opposition to the 
Governing' Classis in Holland.* 

Stuyvesant now revisited Esopus, to see after the finish- 10 Nov. 
ing of the redoubt and the settlement of Domine Blom in at Esopus. 
a proper residence. Thence he went again to Fort Orange, 

* Alb. Rec, iv., 337, 364 ; viii., 270-278, 304 ; xviii., 133 ; xxiv., 149, 383-386, 441, 442 ; 
Cor. CI. Amst. ; Letters of Polhemus, 29th Sept. ; Schaats, 22d Sept. ; Drisius and Selyns, 
4th October, 1660; Blom, 18th Sept., 1663 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii., 109, 961, 962; O'Call., 
ii., 431, 437 ; Dr. De Witt, in N. Y. H. S. Proc., 1844, 74, 75 ; ante, p. 657. 



6S2 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XIX. at the request of the governor of Massachusetts, to use his 
wood offices with the Mohawks, who were meditating: an 
Fort Or- expedition against the Kennebeck savages. The director 
ange. urged the sachems to be at peace, and was so far success- 
ful that they promised '' to discuss that point with the 
other chiefs." 
January. On assuming the government of New Amstel at Alrichs' 
.New Am- death, Hinoyossa, by his indiscreet conduct, produced great 



sttl. 



discords, which were increased when news of the proposed 
12 May. rctrausfcr of the colony to the West India Company reach- 
ed the South River. With Beeckman his relations were 
■2j May. scarcely pleasant ; and complaints were constantly made 

8 October, to Ncw Amsterdam of his haughty and insolent demean- 

9 Dec. or, and his contempt of the provincial regulations respect- 

ing the sale of liquors to the savages. 

The hostile attitude of the Maryland authorities had, in 
the mean time, been under the consideration of the Am- 
9 March, stcrdam directors, who ordered Stuyvesant to oppose their 
ordered to cncroachments, "first warning them in a civil manner not 
encroach- to usurp our territory ; but if they despise such kind en- 
Maryiand. treaties, then nothing is left but to drive them from there, 
as our claims and rights on the lands upon South River 
are indisputable." But while the company was thus stren- 
uous in asserting its territorial rights to the whole South 
River, it declined to receive back from the city of Amster- 
27 August, dam the colony of New Amstel ; and the city's commissa- 
director of rics, obliged to continue their reluctant support, appointed 
ste^ "* Hinoyossa director in place of Alrichs.* 

During the whole of the Protectorate, and while a spirit 
of war was inflamed by New England, Virginia had main- 
intercourse tained a friendly intercourse with New Netherland, and 
"inia. "^ reciprocal courtesies had confirmed the good-will which 
Harvey had promised to De Vries. Notwithstanding par- 
liamentary ordinances, Dutch vessels conveyed the prod- 
ucts of Virginia to Europe, and carried on a mutually satis- 
factory commerce ; and envoys from New Amsterdam had 

* Alb. Rec. iv., 331, 350, 351 ; xvii., 33-96, 141 ; xxiv., 109, 115, 181, 364, 450 ; Acrelius, 
422, 423 ; S. Hazard, Ann. Penn., 300-320 ; ante, p. 070. 



PETER STU YVES ANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 685 

prosperity, envied Holland ; and the convention Parlia- ch. xix 
ment, which had called home the king, took early steps to ~~~ 
render still more obnoxious one of England's most selfish 
measures. The Navigation Act of 1651 was revised ; andActofNav 
it was now enacted, that after the first day of December, 
1660, no merchandise should be imported into or exported 
from any of his majesty's plantations or territories in Asia, 
Africa, or America, except in English vessels, of which 
" the master and three fourths of the mariners at least are 
English."* 

Charles had hardly reached Whitehall, before Lord Bal-24 Juiy. 
timure instructed Captain James Neale, his agent in Hoi- more dt- 

, T 1 • /-I -IT niands the 

land, to requn-e ol the West India Company to yield up to surrender 
him the lands on the south side of Delaware Bay. Neale Dutch pos- 

"^ sessions on 

accordingly made a formal demand for the surrender of the south 

, ■ 111- ^'^'"■• 

New Amstel, and informed the directors that Lord Balti- 23 August. 

more would use all lawful means to defend his rights and 
subject the Dutch to his authority. The Amsterdam Cham- 
ber referred the question to the College of the XIX., who 
returned a "proud answer" that the company's rights were 1 Sept. 
bv possession under srant of the States General ; that thev t^e w. i. 

•^ ^ ^ . Company. 

were resolved to defend those rights ; and that, if Lord 
Baltimore should persevere and resort to violent measures, 
'' they would use all the means which G-od and nature had 
given them to protect the inhabitants and preserve their 
possessions."! 

Seriously alarmed at the condition of New Netherland, 
which, after an outlay of one million of guilders, was only 
now in a position to sustain itself, the College of the XIX. 5 Nov. 
addressed a memorial to the States General, praying them of the w.i 
to instruct their ambassadors at London to demand of the to the 
king that Lord Baltimore should be ordered to desist from General. 
his pretensions until a boundary line should be settled ; and 
also, that the territory which the English had usurped at 

* Aitzema, iv., 598 ; Basnage, i., 606 ; Lingard, xii., 65-69 ; Davies, iii., 10-13 ; Ban- 
croft, ii., 30-43 ; Chalmers, 241, 257 ; Act xii. Charles II., cap. xviii.. Statutes at large, 
iii., 166 ; ante, p. 543, 653. 

t Alb. Rec, iv., 354 ; viii., 292-302; IIol. Doc, ix., 111-126, 175-177; Lend. Doc, iv., 
175-177 ; N. Y. Col. MSS., iii., 344, 345 ; O'Call., ii., 460, 461 ; S. Hazard, Ann. Penn., 
317, 318, Smith's N. Y., i., 12. 



f586 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

ch. XIX. the East, and on Long Island, should be restored, and the 
inhabitants be required to conduct themselves as Dutch 
■ subjects. The memorial likewise prayed that the treaty at 
Southampton of 1625, which allowed the company's ships 
the free use of English ports, should be renewed. Accom- 
panying the memorial, the directors presented various ex- 
planatory papers, including a deduction of their title to 
New Netherland, and detailing the usurpations of the En- 
glish from the time of Van Twiller. The States General 
communicated these papers to their ambassadors, who were 
about to set out for London, and instructed them to call 
the king's attention to the subject as soon as possible. 
,-\ July. One of the first acts of the royal government had, mean- 
Phtniation whilc, bceu to appoint a committee, " to receive, hear, ex- 

Committee. . i i ti i i-j- • i 

amme, and deliberate upon any petitions, memorials, or 
other papers presented by any persons respecting the plan- 
tations in America, and to report their proceedings to the 
council from time to time." Of this committee Lord Say 
and Seal was one of the principal members. In the fol- 
.wNov. lowino; autumn, a standing "Counsell of Trade" was cre- 
Trade.' atcd by patent. Soon afterward, the Plantation Commit- 
tee, appointed in July, was superseded by another patent, 
which constituted Hyde, the lord chancellor, and several 
j-YDec. others, a Standing Council for Foreign Plantations, witl^ 
counci" for iustructions to acquaint themselves with the state of the 
piantl" colonies, to correspond with the governors, to regulate trade, 
and generally to take " all prudential means for the ren- 
dering those dominions useful to England, and England 
helpful to them."* 

* IIoI. Doc, ix., 136-301 ; London Doc, i., 84-104 ; N. Y. Col. MSS., iii., 30-37. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 687 



CHAPTER XX. 
1661-1664. 

The Restoration of Charles the Second, though hailed at chap. xx. 
first with joy in Holland, did not produce in Great Britain 
more friendly feelings toward the Dutch. The two nations E„g,ig|, " 
were now commercial rivals ; and it was soon perceived at |he Dutdf 
the Hague that another crisis with England was approach- 
ing. The Act of Navigation had already closed, against 
Holland and New Netherland, the ports of New England, 
Virginia, and Maryland ; and it was evident that no more 
was to be hoped from the king than from the Protector. 
While British statesmen were exhibiting such a spirit of 
commercial exclusiveness, a new element was introduced 
into political affairs. The Restoration had by no means 
been the unanimous act of the nation ; and at Breda 
Charles had endeavored to win the good-will of all his 
subjects by declaring liberty to tender consciences. But 
the Royalists and Churchmen, who had so long endured intoieranoe 
the yoke of Puritanism, now that they were again in pow- aiists. "^ 
er, insisted upon restoring the hierarchy. The Independ- 
ents and Dissenters, wounded where they were most sens- 
itive, could scarcely conceal their vexation ; and many of 
them desired to seek new homes not subject to English 
rule, and where they would be free alike from monarchy 
and prelacy. 

These considerations were not overlooked in Holland ; 
and the West India Company, finding that there were 
scarcely any colonists within their territory between the 
North and South Rivers, now forming the State of New Jer- 
sey, determined to invite emigration thither by the offer 
of large inducements. A new charter of "conditions and 
privileges" was therefore drawn up, granting to "all such 



QS8 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

c HAP. XX. people as shall be disposed to take up their abode in those 
"" parts" fifteen leagues of land along the sea-coast, "and as 

■ far in depth in the continent as any plantation hath, or 
may be settled in New Netherland." The emigrants were 
Liberal to havc " high, middle, and low jurisdiction ;" freedom from 
ode'redby " head mouey" for twenty years ; the property in mines ; 
loiiipaiiy. freedom, for ten years, from taxes or recognitions to the 
company ; the right to use their own ships ; freedom of the 
fishing trade ; and, in case of difference with Stuyvesant 
or his successor, "to choose a director or chief — only they 
shall issue out all writs, of what nature soever, in the name 
of the States Greneral of the United Netherlands." The 
advantageous situation of the country was described in 
glowing terms. " Therefore," added the company, " if any 
of the English good Christians, who may be assured of the 
advantages to mankind of plantations in these latitudes 
from others more southerly, and shall be rationally dis- 
posed to transport themselves to the said place under the 
conduct of the United States, they shall have full liberty 
to live in the fear of the Lord upon the aforesaid good con- 
ditions, and shall be likewise courteously used." 
14 Feb. These conditions were immediately approved by the 

Approved . . 

by the States Greneral. An act under their seal was issued at the 

States Gen- 
eral. Hague, by which was granted to " all Christian people of 

tender conscience, in England or elsewhere oppressed, full 
liberty to erect a colony in the West Indies, between New 
England and Virginia, in America, now within the juris- 
diction of Peter Stuyvesant, the States (General's governor 
for the West India Company;" and all concerned were for- 
bidden to hinder such colonists, and were enjoined to af- 
ford them "all favorable help and assistance where it shall 
be needful. ""^ 

While the West India Company and the States General 
were thus endeavoring to attract emigrants to New Neth- 
erland by the promise of courteous treatment, and " full lib- 
erty to live in the fear of the Lord," their chief provincial 
officer was reviving the religious persecutions which for 

* Alb. Rec, iv., 363 ; Lond. Doc, i., 105-109 ; N. V. Col. MSB., iii., 37-39. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 689 

the last two years had been generally suspended. But the chap. xx. 
(Quakers were still objects of suspicion ; and the cruelties 
with which Massachusetts and New Haven visited the dis- 
ciples of Fox seem to have stimulated the director of New 
Netherland to fresh severities. In spite of the law, the 
Q,uakers had continued to attend private conventicles at Quakers 
the house of Henry Townsend, of Rustdorp, who had al- secuted. 
ready been twice fined. Richard Everett and Nathaniel 
Denton now communicated to Stuyvesant the names of 
eleven persons who had attended these prohibited meet- 
ings ; and the inhabitants, at the same time, petitioned 
that a minister might be sent from New Amsterdam to 
baptize some of their children. Domine Drisius was ac- 
cordingly desired to visit Jamaica and administer the holy 
rite ; and Waldron, the deputy schout, and Bayard, one of 
the director's clerks, were sent to examine into the affair 
of the conventicles. John and Henry Townsend, of Jamai- 8 Jan. 
ca, and John Tilton and Samuel Spicer, of Gravesend, were Jamaica 
arrested and conveyed to New Amsterdam, where Henry Gravesend 
Townsend and Spicer were sentenced to be fined, and John 20 Jan. 
Townsend and Tilton to be banished. This was followed 
by the appointment of the two informers, Everett and Den- 24 Jan. 
ton, together with Andrew Messenger, to be magistrates of istrlt^^li 
Rustdorp, and, by stationing soldiers in the village, to sup- 
press the unlawful meetings. The people, soon petitioning w Feb. 
that the detachment might be withdrawn, were answered 
that they would be gratified upon signing a pledge to sus- 
tain the government. The new magistrates, with twelve 
of their townsmen, accordingly set their names to a paper, 11 Feb. 
drawn up by Denton the clerk, engaging " that if any 
meetings or conventicles of Quakers shall be in this town 
of Rustdorp, that we know of, then we will give informa- 
tion to the authority set up in this place by the governor, 
and also assist the authority of th(; town against any such 
person or persons called Quakers as needs shall require." 
But some refusing to sign the pledge, the soldiers were 15 Feb. 
quartered upon them, and Townsend was ordered to leave 
the province. The Independents and Presbyterians of Mid- 
X x 



690 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XX. (lelburgh, however, "fearing that some of the inhabitants 
may be led away by the intrusion of Quakers and other 
Middei- herctics," petitioned the director to aid them in obtaining 
foVaminu- ^ minister in place of the deceased John Moore.* 
'^'■- Stuyvesant's refusal to erect a court at Esopus had, 

meanwhile, brought upon him the severe censure of the 
Amsterdam directors, who peremptorily ordered him to 
16 May. cxecute their commands. By a formal charter, municipal 
Esopus or powers were accordingly conferred on the settlement, which 
vvyck." was now ordered to be called " Wiltwyck," or Indian vil- 
lage, as the ground on which it stood was a gift from the 
savages. The charter appointed Evert Pels, Cornells Ba- 
First mag- rcntscu Slcght, and Elbert Heymans Roose, schepcns, who, 
with a schout to be named by the director, were to form a 
court of justice for the government of the village. These 
magistrates were to see the laws of the Fatherland and 
the ordinances of the director and council faithfully exe- 
cuted, and were forbidden to publish any acts of their own 
without the previous consent of the provincial government. 
As it was customary in the Fatherland that annual changes 
should take place in the magistracy, the schepens were re- 
quired to "pay due attention to the conversation, conduct, 
and abilities of honest and decent persons," inhabitants of 
their village, and to inform the authorities of New Amster- 
dam, " about the time of the next election, as to who might 
be sufficiently qualified to be then elected by the director 
27 June, general and council." The next month, Stuyvesant com- 
schout. pleted the organization of the first municipal court in the 
present county of Ulster, by installing Roelof Swartwout 
as schout of Wiltwyck. t 

Beyond Esopus Fort Orange was now the extreme front- 
ier post of New Netherland. The territory west and north 
of Beverwyok had, indeed, been explored ; but, excepting 
a few scattered husbandmen near the Cohoocs Falls, no 

* Alb. Rec, xix., 2, 11, 18, 21-28, 4(MR, 55, 56 ; Jamaica Rec, i., 120 ; Thompson's L. 
I., i., 380 i ii., 143, 292, 293 ; O'Call., ii., 450, 451 ; Hutchinson, i., 183, 184 ; Hazard, ii., 
505-572 ; ante, p. 038. Moore, of Newtown, died on the 13th of October, 1657. — Letter ol 
Megapolensis and Drisius to Classis, 22d of October, 1057. 

t Alb. Rec, iv., 352; xviii., 158; xix., 36, 112, 114, 125-131, 137-140; Kingston Rec; 
O'Call., ii., 432-437 ; ante, p. 76, 677. The name is frequently spelled Wildwyoli. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 691 

pioneers of civilization had yet fixed their homes within chap. xx. 
the eastern hunting-ground of the Mohawks. That ter- 
ritory, however, which, when Fort Nassau was first built, 
had abounded in beavers and wild deer, was now almost 
destitute of peltries ; and its aboriginal owners felt dis- 
posed to sell the land, which to them had become of little 
value. On the other hand, many of the inhabitants of 
Beverwyck, where there was often a dearth of food, were 
anxious to settle themselves as farmers in the neighborhood 
of Fort Orange, yet not as dependents of the patroon of 
Rensselaerswyck. Van Curler accordingly applied to Stuy- is June, 
vesant for permission to buy the " Great Flat" west of the 
fort, "toward the interior of the country;" which was 
promptly given, upon condition that the lands should, as 21 June. 
usual, be transferred to the director and council as the rep- 
resentatives of the West India Company, and that "what- 
ever the petitioners shall pay for the aforesaid lands to the 
original proprietors shall in due time be returned to them, 
or be discounted to them against the tenths." The next 
month, several chiefs appeared before Vice-director La Mon- 2; Juiy. 

^ ^ Purchase of 

tagne at Fort Orange, and formally conveyed to Van Cur- scuenecta- 
ler the Great Flat, lying between Fort Orange and the Mo- 
hawk country, "called in Indian Schonowe." This was 
the first step toward the settlement of " Schaenhechstede," 
of which the name survives in that of the present city of 
Schenectady. The next year the provincial government 
confirmed the purchase by a grant ; but the lands were not 
surveyed and laid out until the spring of 1664. "^ 

Not long afterward, another court, similar to that at Eso- 
pus, was established back of G-amoenepa, where there was 
now a thriving settlement. The name given to the new 
village was " Bergen," after that of a small town in North 15 sept 
Holland ; and Tielman van Vleeck, a notary in New Am- Berg?n. 
sterdam, was appointed the first schout, and Michael Jan- 
sen, one of the former "Nine Men," Hermanns Smeeman, 
and Casparus Steynmets, the first magistrates of the ear- 

* Alb. Rec, vi., 345 ; six., 179, 180 ; x.\i., 135-139 ; xxii., 169, 234 ; Fort Orange Rec. ; 
Renss. MSS. ; O'Call., ii., 438, 439 ; ante, p. 306, 660; post, p. 732. 



692 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XX. liest Organized municipal government within the present 
State of New Jersey. A log building, to serve as a place 
Church at "^ Worship, was presently erected by the inhabitants, who 
Bargen. voluntarily taxed themselves for the purpose ; and nine 
male and eighteen female members composed the first 
church. For many years divine service was conducted, 
and the sacraments were administered at Bergen by the 
clergymen of the neighboring metropolis.* 

The difficulties respecting the title to Staten Island were 
surrender now arranged. Melyn, visiting Amsterdam, surrendered 
cisims to to the West India Company all his rights as a patroon, for 

Stalen Isl- i-ii ■ i r r i ii -ii -i 

and. which he received niteen hundred guilders, indemnity for 
his losses, the promise of certain privileges as a "free col- 
onist and inhabitant" in New Netherland, and a "full am- 
nesty with regard to all disputes." Under this arrange- 
ment Melyn returned to New Amsterdam. This was fol- 

ofVande lowcd by the purchase of all the claims and estate of Van 

" de Capellen, who had recently died, to any part of Staten 

Island. The whole island thus became the property of the 

company, which by this time had sufficient experience of 

the inconvenience of patroonships. Grants of land wore 

29, August, presently made to various persons, among whom were sev- 

and Hugue- eral Frcuch Waldenses, and afterward many Huguenots 
from Rochelle. A new village was commenced a few miles 
south of the Narrows, where twelve or fourteen families 

Village and were soon settled. To secure themselves against the sav- 

uouse. ages, they built a block-house in 1663, which was provided 
with two small guns and a garrison of ten soldiers. At 
the request of the inhabitants, who were not able to sup- 

Domine poi't a clergyman of their own, Domine Drisius visited 
Staten Island every two months, to preach in French and 
administer the sacraments. t 

* Alb. Hec, xix., 273 ; xx., 277-260; xxiv., 117, 143, 372, 308; 0'Call.,ii.,428 ; on/«,p. 
042. The Dcrgen church records begin in 16f)4 ; and in 1680, a stone edifice of an oc- 
tagonal form was bnilt. I am indebted to the Rev. Dr. H. C. Taylor, its present minister, 
for an interesting sketch of this first churcli in New Jersey. 

t Alb. Rcc, iv., 282, 307, 365, 3H», 425, 437, 4.57, 401 ; viii.. 222, 290 ; xviii., 11, 140, 160, 
198, 236, 251, 295; .\xi., 49; llol. Doc., xii., 141 ; New Amsl. Uec, iv., 359; Drisius to 
Clas.sis, 5lh Aug., 1664; Dr. De Witt, in N. Y. II. S. Hroc , 1644, 69, 70 ; 1848,78; O'CaJl., 
ii., 426, 576 ; ante, p. 615, 041. 



Orislus. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 693 

On the south side of the Narrows, the lands which had chap. xx. 
been granted to Van Werckhoven remained uninhabited 
for several years. After his death, Jacques Cortelyou, his 
former agent, commenced a settlement, which was named settiemcm 

of Nbv/ 

" New Utrecht," in compliment to Van Werckhoven's place utrechi. 
of birth. Fiscal De Sille became one of the proprietaries, 
and the village grew slowly until 1660, when it was de- 
termined to palisade it, and build a block-house in its cen- 
tre. At the end of the next year. New Utrecht received a 22 Dec, 

• 11 1 ... ... • -1 1 ViUago 

Village charter, givmg it municipal powers similar to those charter. 
of New Haerlem ; and Jan Tomasse, Rutger Joosten, and 
Jacob Hellekers were appointed its first magistrates. It 
had, however, no schout of its own, the duties of which 
office were performed by Adriaen Hegeman, who had suc- 
ceeded Tonneman as schout of the neighboring villages of 
Breuckelen, Amersfoort, and Midwout. 

Several Frenchmen wishing to settle themselves on the 
lands between Breuckelen and Middelburgh, Stuyvesant, 
at their request, went thither early in 1660, and fixed upon 
a place "between Mespath Kill and Norman's Kill" as the 
site for a new village. In a year the settlement contained 
twenty-three families, and the director again going there, 14 March. 
at the request of the inhabitants, named the place " Bos- 
wyck," now known as Bushwick. A few days afterward, a 25 Marcn. 
subaltern court was established at the new village, of which charter'. 
Pieter Jansen de Witt, Jan Tilje, and Jan Cornelissen were 
appointed the first magistrates. Two block-houses were 
built in 1663 for the defense of the village, which had in- 
creased so rapidly as to contain forty men able to bear arms. 
Boswyck, like New Utrecht, having no schout of its own, 
was subject to the jurisdiction of Hegeman, the schout of 
Breuckelen, Amersfoort, and Midwout; and the district The Five 
now became known as " the Five Dutch Towns."* Town.*. 

The metropolis had continued to prosper ; and its inhab- 
itants, still jealous on the subject of residence, now obtain- 31 Jan. 
ed from Stuyvesant a decree that those who should absent right. 

* Alb. Rec, xviii., 235 ; xix., 444 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., i., 633-655 ; New Ulrecht Rec. ; 
Bushwick Rec. ; Thompson's L. I., ii., 155, 190 ; O'Call., ii., 429, 430 ; Riker's Newtown, 
50, 51 ; ante, p. 537, 580. 



694 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

GHA.P. XX. themselves from New Amsterdam for four months, "with- 
out holdinc^ fire and lisfht" there, should lose their burgher 

1 API O o ? O 

i October ^ight. It was also proposed to replace the decaying stock- 
proposed*" ^^^ with a moic substantial defense, and to require each 
North River yacht, in lieu of wharfage, to make one or two 
voyages to Tappan for stone, "in order to surround the city 
with a wall in course of time." A better currency having 
I a October, also bccome indispensable, the burgomasters and schepens 
lampiated. rcsolvcd to Write the Fatherland for authority to establish 
a mint for the coinage of silver, and after this should come 
into circulation, to make wampum or sewan, without which 
no beavers could be obtained from the savages, an article of 
trade. This, however, the Amsterdam directors would not 
Latin cousent to yield. The Latin or High school, which had 
been established in 1659, did not prosper under the su- 
perintendence of Curtius, who fell into disputes with the 
parents of some of his pupils in regard to discipline, and 
with the burgomasters and schepens respecting the collec- 
ciirtius re- tiou of taxcs, from wliicli he claimed to be exempt. Cur- 
Houand. tius, therefore, returned to Holland, and was succeeded by 
1662. Domine .^gidius Luyck, who came out from the Fatherland 
SiVcSed especially to educate Stuyvesant's sons. Under Luyck's 
i.jjxk."''"** superintendence, the High School at New Amsterdam 
gained such a reputation that children were sent to it from 
Fort Orange, the South River, and Virginia. 

A number of breweries, brick-kilns, and other manufac- 
tories were now in successful operation ; and the potteries 
f r-n j of Long Island were esteemed equal to those of Delft. Salt- 
i; April, works were also attempted ; and Dirck de Wolf, having ob- 
on Coney taiucd from the Amsterdam Chamber an exclusive privilege 
for seven years to make salt in New Netherland, began its 
manufacture upon Coney Island, of which he received a 
grant. But the people of Gravesend, who claimed the isl- 
and, forcibly arrested De Wolf's enterprise, which he was 
obliged to abandon, notwithstanding Stuyvesant sent a 
military force to ])rotect and encourage him.* 

* Alb. Rcc, iv., .141, 37."?, 37.5, 387, 386, 411 ; viii., 319, 32] ; xvii., \:,0 ; xviii., 44, 85, 164, 
228 ; xxi., 257-270 ; New Amst. Rec, i., 90 ; iv., 136, 296. 408, 435, 633 ; Hanoroft, ii., 311 ; 
O'Call., ii., 542, 546; ante, p. 656, 674. Luyck afterward became a magistrate of the City 



Inland. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 695 

In the mean time, the New England colonies had re- chap. xx. 
ceived the news of the Restoration with varied feelings. 
Massachusetts adopted an apologetic address to Charles the Massachii- 
Second ; ordered the royal warrants against the fugitive ^'ilLries'ii 
regicides, Whalley and G-offe, to be executed ; and even n May. 
asked Stuyvesant to deliver them up. The refugees, how- 
ever, found an asylum in New Haven. The Cleneral Court 17 June. 
at Hartford, in a loyal address drawn up by Grovernor petitions 

ITT- 11 Til- 11 for a char- 

Wmthrop, besought the kmg to accept that colony as " ater. 
little branch" of his empire, and also petitioned for a royal 
charter to "assure" them possession, against their "nox- 
ious neighbors" the Dutch, of the territory for which they 
had "not so much as a copy of a patent." The governor wimhrop 
was also commissioned as agent in England, and instruct- 
ed to procure a charter which should include all the region 
"eastward to Plymouth line, northward to the limits of the 
Massachusetts colony, and westward to the bay of Dela- 
ware, if it may be," together with the adjacent islands. 
With these instructions, Winthrop, repairing to New Am- 21 juiy. 

I 1 1 1 • 1 • ,1 Sails trom 

sterdam, where he met "honorable and kmd reception," set New Am- 
sail for England in the Dutch ship " De Trouw." 

The ready submission of the Hartford Court did not 
please the more sturdy republicans of New Haven, who 
for several months omitted to proclaim the king. At length, ^ August. 
"taking encouragement from what has been done in the faaton'at 
rest of the United Colonies," they ungraciously acknowl-veT 
edged Charles the Second. But the extorted avowal dis- 
gusted many of the more rigid Puritans, who dreaded a 
prelacy surrounding the throne.* 

And now the liberal conditions, which the States Gen- 
eral and the West India Company had published in the 
spring, becoming generally known, several persons visited 
New Netherland, to examine the lands between the North 
and South Rivers proposed to be colonized. A report of 
their courteous entertainment soon reached New Haven ; 

* Alb. Rec, iv., 382, 405 ; xviii., 189 ; Lond. Doc, i., 110-117 ; N. Y. Col. MSS., iii., 39- 
42; ii., N.Y.H.S. Coll., i., 456; Hazard, ii., 451, 586-588; Col. Rec. Conn., .•567-369, 579- « 

585 ; Trumbull, i., 240-248, 511-514 ; Hutchinson, i., 195-201 ; Chalmers, 250-253 ; Ban 
croft, ii., 50-54, 71-74 ; Ilildrelh, i., 448-450 ; ante, p. 262, 654. 



696 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XX. and Fenn and Treat, two of the magistrates of the dissat- 
~~~ isfied colony, accompanied by two others, came to New 
28 Nov. ' Amsterdam to negotiate for the estabUshment of a Puritan 
^t^New colony under the Dutch provincial government. The 
is^^" agents insisted upon several preliminary conditions. These 
rAjndiiions wcrc the right to establish a church " in the Conwrewation- 
al way, such as they have enjoyed m INew England ; the 
calling of a synod by the English churches in New Neth- 
erland, "for the suppressing of heresies, schisms, and false 
worship, and for the establishment of truth and peace" in 
those churches ; the establishrrjent of a civil government, 
to be administered by their own elected magistrates and 
officers, under laws similar to those of New Haven, and 
without any right of appeal ; the extinguishment of the In- 
dian title by the Dutch government, and the conveyance 
of the lands to the settlers ; the exclusion of all persons 
from settling among them, except such as they might ap- 
prove ; and the right to collect debts, 
stuyve- To all of thcsc demands Stuyvesant promptly acceded, 

sant'scon- i i i • i • 

cessions, exccpt to that wiiich contemplated the introduction of the 
New Haven system of government. " In the way of mag- 
istrature, judicature, and civil affairs," he replied, "shall 
be granted to the petitioners all such power, authority, 
privilege, and liberty, as all other towns and colonies in 
New Netherland have obtained." This, however, did not 
satisfy the New Haven men. They insisted upon intro- 
ducing their own civil code in all its vigor, and without 
any appeal to the supreme provincial authorities of New 
1662. Netherland. The suspended negotiation was renewed the 
^ ■ next .spring. But Stuyvesant, feeling that he had already 
conceded enough, insisted upon the double nomination 
30 May. and the right of appeal ; and the authoritative decision of 
the w. I. the question was referred to the Amsterdam directors.* 
omp ny. Dou^jtj. had, mcanwhilc, arisen in the council of Mary- 
land whether New Amstel was really within their limits; 
and all further demonstrations had been delayed until the 

* Alb. Rec, xix., 409-421 ; xx., 73-77, 147 ; N. A. Rec. ; O'Call., ii., 447, 448; White- 
head's East Jersey, 22, 163. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 697 

will of the proprietary should be ascertained. Baltimore, chap. xx. 
however, took care to obtain from the king a confirmation 
of the patent which had been granted by Charles I. ; and confirma- 
Stuyvesant, receiving the news, wrote to the directors ]^°JJ,°^Ji'J,*^ 
" that Lord Baltimore's natural brother, who is a rigid Pa- Ifj^t 
pist, being made governor there, has received Lord Balti- ^^"[.^di.s. 



to the 
Com- 



more's claim and protest to your honors in council (where- ^^''f 
with he seems but little satisfied), and has now more hopes'"*"^' 
of success. We have advice from England that there is 
an invasion intended against these parts, and the country 
solicited of the king, the duke, and the Parliament, is to be 
annexed to their dominions." The savages around the 
South River showing signs of hostility, Hinoyossa and Pie- 
ter Alrichs went to Maryland to propose the negotiation of 6 Sept. 
a general treaty of peace with the neighboring Indians. 
Calvert approving the suggestion, soon afterward sent com- 
missioners to the South River, who were courteously re- 
ceived by Beeckman at Altona. On their return, they were 
accompanied by Hinoyossa, who met Calvert at the head 
of the Apoquinimy Creek, where a treaty was concluded October, 
with the sachem of the savages. The English, at the same with the 
time, proposed to deliver two or three thousand hogsheads 
of tobacco annually to the Dutch, in return for negroes and 
merchandise.* 

In the mean time, active measures had been taken by 
the city of Amsterdam, whither Van Sweringen had gone, 
" to remonstrate the condition" of its colony. A full re- 9 March, 
poit was made to the burgomasters; and the West India 
Company, on its part, readily agreed to modify the condi- 21 March, 
tions under which New Amstel had been conveyed in 1656. 
These changes, which promised great advantages, were ap- 
proved by the city government ; and the burghers of Am- 
sterdam were invited to take an interest in its colony. 

Public attention was soon drawn toward the South Riv- 
er, and various plans of emigration were proposed. The 
region between New Amstel and Cape Hinlopen being 

* Alb. Rec, xvii., 100, 112, 124, 127, 129, 142, 146, 377; xviii., 146; S. Hazard, Ann. 
Penn., 320-330; Smith's N. Y., i., 13; McMahon, 25; Bancroft, ii., 236, 309. 



(398 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XX. almost unoccupied, seemed to present special attractions, 
and a number of Mennonists, or Anabaptists, proposed to 
Mennon- establish tliemselves in a colony at the Horekill. A corre- 
liofe^to'em- ^P^^^®^^*^^ witli the burgomasters resulted in the forma- 
"l rr9 ^^°^ °^ ^ company, and the adoption of one hundred and 
iiijan. seventeen articles of association for the government of the 
•issocfa-" proposed settlement, which are among the most extraor- 
I'lorekiii ^ diuary of the early memorials of American colonization. 
'''"'"■■ The associates were to be either married males, or single 
men twenty-four years old, who were free from debt. 
Each was to bind himself to obey the ordinances of the so- 
ciety, and not to seek his own advancement over any other 
member. No clergymen were to be admitted into the so- 
ciety. Religious services were to be as simple as possible. 
Every Sunday and holiday the people were to assemble, 
sing a psalm, and listen to a chapter from the Bible, to be 
read by one of the members in rotation ; after which an- 
other psalm was to be sung. At the end of these exer- 
cises, the court was to be opened for public business. The 
object of the association being to establish a harmonious 
society of persons of different religious sentiments, it was 
determined to exclude from it "all intractable people — 
such as those in communion with the Roman See ; usurious 
Jews; English stiff-necked Quakers; Puritans; fool-hardy 
believers in the Millennium ; and obstinate modern pre- 
tenders to revelation." Laws were to be ordained by the 
votes of two thirds of the members ; but they must be ap- 
proved by the authorities of the city of Amsterdam before 
they could become binding. Ten persons were to be an- 
nually proposed as officers, of whom the burgomasters of 
Amsterdam were to select five, to serve for one year. Dur- 
ing the first five years after their arrival, the emigrants 
were to live in common. At the end of that time the prop- 
erty was to be divided, and each head of a family to re- 
ceive his proportionate share. Idle and dissolute persons 
might be expelled by a vote of two thirds of the members. 
The laws of Holland, and especially those of the city of 
Amsterdam, were to govern the new association, and no 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 699 

magistrate was to receive any compensation, "not even acHAP. xx. 

stuyver." "l662~ 

These singular articles, together with a description of publication 
the country and various papers and arguments in favor of verhaei°"^ 
the project, were published in Holland ; and the city gov- 
ernment granted an advance of two hundred guilders each 20 April. 
to twenty-five families of Mennonists about to emigrate to 
New Netherland. A few months afterward, articles were 9 June. 

1 11 1 -r>- /^ Agreement 

agreed upon between the burs^omasters and rieter Corne- between 

Amster- 

lis Plockhoy, as the leader of the colonists, to whom was dam and 

1 TT -11 T r r the Men- 

granted a tract of land at the HorekiU, to be free from tax- nonists. 

es for twenty years. The emigrants were to establish for 
themselves such laws as they thought proper, provided they 
did not conflict with the general " conditions" which the 
city had published in 1656. Arrangements were made for 
the transportation of the colonists ; and twenty-five hund- 
red guilders were loaned to the association, for the repay- 
ment of which the whole body was to be bound.* 

The condition of New Amstel and Altona, however, had Affairs at 
not improved. The ofiicers of the city's colony became stei and ai- 
daily more independent, refusing to publish Stuy vesant's 12 March, 
thanksgiving proclamations, and requiring vessels to lower 
their colors while passing New Amstel. Hinoyossa de- 15 May. 
nounced the provincial government, and threatened that 
if the burgomasters of Amsterdam did not support his au- 
thority he would follow the example of Minuit, " who, in 
consequence of the ill treatment he had received from the 
company, had brought the Swedes to the South River." 
Beeckman, on his part, charged Hinoyossa with pecula- 
tion ; and Van Sweringen, having accidentally shot one of 21 June. 
the company's soldiers, was protected by the city's director 
against the criminal process of New Netherland. Mean- 
while, religious ordinances were discontinued, for there 

* Hoi. Doc, XV.. 37-51, 123-133; xvi., 231-235 ; Alb. Rec, iv.,377 ; viii., 335-337 ; xviii., 
195; Lond. Doc.,iv.,177; N.Y.CoI. MSS.,iii.,345; Wagenaar, i., 595 ; 0'Call.,ii., 461^69. 
These articles form a part of the Appendix to a small quarto pamphlet of 84 pages, com- 
piled from De Laet, De Vries, and the Vertoogh, entitled " Korte Verhael van Nieuw Ne- 
derlandts Gelegenthied," &c., <fec., printed in 1662. The copy which I procured in Hol- 
land is in the library of the N. Y. Historical Society ; and a translation will probably be 
included in its collections. 



700 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XX. Were no clergymen to baptize the children or administer 
the communion. It was now evident that either the com- 
wanton-e-P^"y ^'^ ^^® ^^^Y m^^^ bc supreme there. To accomplish 
services ^^^'^ objcct, earnest representations were sent to Holland ; 
September, whithcr Hiuoyossa announced that he would return by 
visits Hoi- way of Virginia, "to give an accurate description of the 
colony to his lords and patrons, and to convince them of the 
necessity of obtaining possession of the South River."* 
In the mean time, the relations between England and 
1661. the Netherlands had been far from harmonious. Charles, 
sir"Geor<re indeed, had paid the Dutch the compliment of accrediting 
Briiirti"a^ii- to them the first ambassador whom he sent to a foreign 
thfuague.^ court after his Restoration. But the king's choice was 
singularly infelicitous. The new ambassador was Sir 
Greorge Downing. He had been educated in Massachu- 
setts, and was one of the earliest graduates of the college 
at Cambridge in the year 1642. Groing over to England, 
Downing entered Cromwell's army, and was afterward sent 
by the Protector as ambassador to the States General. In 
this position he had conducted himself with great haugh- 
tiness toward the republic, and had become personally ob- 
noxious to the Dutch statesmen. Changing with the 
change of the times, he recommended himself to the vers- 
atile king, who reinstated him in his former post. On his 
return to the Hague, Downing became still more arrogant. 
Able and bold, but faithless and unscrupulous, his charac- 
ter had already become a proverb among his countrymen, 
who were used " to say of a false man who betrayed his 
trust, that he was an arrant Greorge Downing."! 

It was no wonder that the negotiations for a treaty of 
commerce and alliance between England and the United 
Provinces were protracted. Besides embarrassing ques- 
tions arising out of the new Act of Navigation, there were 
other reasons why Charles was not anxious for a definitive 
arrangement with the Dutch. Lord Baltimore had already 

* Alb. Rec, xvii., 151-217 ; xviii., 195 ; O'Call., ii., 464, 465 ; S. Hazard, Ann. Penn., 
330-341. 

t Hutchinson, i., 107, 444 ; Savage's Winlhrop, i., 49 ; ii., 240-242 ; Lettres d'Estrades, 
Ii., 364 ; Uasnage, i., 634 ; Brieven van Ue Witt, iv., 139; Davies, iii., 20, 21. 



PETER STU YVES ANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 701 

appealed to him in behalf of Maryland ; and now Henry, chap. xx. 
the third Earl of Stirling, urged his petition that, in any 
treaty which might be made with the Netherlands, the 
Dutch upon Long Island should be required to submit 31 May. 
themselves to English authority. The king's obvious pol- !''•'""•=• 
icy was procrastination. Not so that of the Dutch. The 
States General, wearied with delays, at length sent orders March. 
to their ambassadors to conclude the treaty which had been 
so fully discussed, or else leave London. The ambassadors 
were put off some time longer; but,* in the end, a conven- 14 Sept. 
tion was signed at Whitehall. At first the alliance seem- tion be- 
ed to promise well ; the Dutch fulfilled their stipulations united 
with promptness and honor ; and the king declared that and Great 
as they had been the first to execute, so he would be the 
last to violate the treaty. But the event did not verify the 
royal word. A bitter, hereditary jealousy of the Dutch 
was deeply seated in the minds of the English people. 
Amsterdam had overshadowed London ; the commerce of 
Holland had prospered more than that of England ; Dutch 
fleets had humbled the arrogance which claimed to rule 
the seas ; and Saint John's vindictive Act of Navigation 
had been followed up by the still more selfish statute of 
the Twelfth of Charles the Second. That act contempla- 
ted the total exclusion of all foreigners from any trade or 
commerce with the British colonies. Though its restric- 
tions violated the rights of mankind, they were looked upon 
with less repugnance in New England, where envy of the 
Dutch in New Netherland predominated, than in Virginia, 
where a more magnanimous policy obtained. The inter- 
colonial treaty which Stuyvesant had negotiated with 
Berkeley in 1660 had given satisfaction to the people of 
both provinces. The new Act of Navigation was felt to be 
a serious grievance, and its provisions were virtually evad- 
ed. Dutch ships continued to convey to foreign markets 
the tobacco which otherwise would have been the prize of 
monopoly at London or Bristol ; and G-overnor Berkeley Berkeley 
was sent to England as agent of Virginia, to ask relief v1rgin?a. 
from commercial oppression. But the king was indiffcr- 



702 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XX. ent, and Parliament was inexorable. At the very time the 
I treaty with the Netherlands was matured, the council for 
25 Au'i^t. Foreign Plantations was considering the question of the se- 
4 Sept. cret trade between the Dutch and the English colonies in 
^1 Sept. America ; and Berkeley was presently instructed to cause 
jratioiiAot the Act of Navigation to be "carefully and faithfully ex- 
be observed ecuted and observed" in Virginia, where the government 
giishcoio- had certain knowledge that "very much tobacco is shipped 
in that our colony in Dutch vessels." Well might Stuyve- 
sant inform the Amsterdam Chamber that Berkeley had 
"effected very little in favor of the English Virginians."* 
Connecticut was more fortunate in her agent than was 
Virginia. Though the son-in-law of the executed Hugh 
Peters, Winthrop, by his personal character, talents, and lit- 
erary attainments, soon commanded respect and won con- 
23 April, fidence. Before long a royal charter passed the great seal, 
terof Con- by which "the governor and company of the English colony 
of Connecticut, in New England," were incorporated, and 
invested with jurisdiction over all the territory bounded on 
Bounda- the east by the Narragansett Bay, on the north by the south 
line of Massachusetts, on the south by the sea, and on the 
west by the Pacific Ocean ; together with " the islands 
thereunto adjoining." Thus the " careless benevolence" 
of Charles the Second gave to Connecticut the whole of 
New Haven, besides the greater part of New Netherland, 
including Long Island, then claimed by Lord Stirling; and 
Encroach- the covctcd posscssious of tlic Dutcli appeared at last to be 

es on New -i-i r ^ iii- 

Nether- withm the grasp of those who had striven so lon^ to ap- 
propriate the territory of their " noxious neighbors," and 
"crowd out" the original discoverers of the land.t 

The next autumn, the charter was presented and read 

September, at the annual meeting of the commissioners of the United 
Colonies ; and the English settlers at the eastern end of 
Long Island hastened to acknowledge their allegiance to 

* Lend. Doc, i., nO-123 ; N. Y. Col. MSS., iii., 39-44 ; Alb. Rec, xviii., 157, 158, 197 ; 
Chalmers, 242-244; Hazard, ii., 610; Brieven van Dc Witt, iv., 221-304; Aitxema, iv., 
1111-1114; Ba8nagc,i.,665; Bancroft, ii., 69, 198, 300 ; Verplanck, in iii., N. Y. II. S.CoII., 
87 ; ante, p. 683, 685. 

t Hazard, ii., 597-«05 ; Chalmers, 293 ; Bancroft, i., 425 ; ii., 51-54 ; Trumbull, i., 249 
ante, p. 262, 324, 695. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 703 

Connecticut. Southold chose Captain John Young as her chap. xx. 
deputy to the next General Court at Hartford. Young's 
previous proceedings had awakened the attention of the 
New Netherland government ; and Stuyvesant now inform- 13 October. 

. . . Stuyve- 

ed the Connecticut authorities that they were " an absolute smws let- 
breach and a nullification" of the boundary treaty of 1650, General 
and that they gave the States Greneral and the West India connecti. 
Company a just ground to demand and recover all their 
ancient rights to the territory between Grreenwich and the 
Fresh River. The Greneral Court was, therefore, request- 
ed to return its "categorical answer" about Young's "se- 
ditious doings." This was soon given. The charter was /^^ oct. 
exhibited to Captain Nicholas Varlett, who had brought his 
brother-in-law's letter, and the court desired that Stuyve- Reply of 
sant "would not in any wise incumber or molest his maj-cut. 
esty's subjects comprehended within the extent of our pat- 
ent by any impositions, that thereby more than probable 
inconveniences may be prevented." Southold was received 
under the protection of the court, and Young was admitted 
a freeman of the corporation. West Chester was declared 23 October. 

. . . West Ches- 

to be included in Connecticut, and the inhabitants were ter, Green- 
required to send deputies to its next G-eneral Court. G-reen- the Long 
wich was also accepted, and annexed with West Chester to towns an- 
the jurisdiction of the local court at Fairfield. The settle- 
ments at Huntington, Setauket or Ashford, and Oyster Bay, 
were notified to choose constables ; and " all the Planta- 
tions on the island," including Jamaica, Flushing, G-raves- 
end, Heemstede, and Middelburgh, were ordered to " at- 
tend the established law of this colony for the rule of rat- 
ing," and to appear at the General Assembly to be held 
the next May.'-^ 

Religious zeal had, meanwhile, been animating the Jes- 
uits in Canada to new efforts for the conversion of the sav- 

* Alb. Rec, iv., 379, 382 ; xviii., 218, 219 ; x.\., 249, 253, 263 ; .\xi., 97-101 ; Dunlap, ii., 
App. xxix. ; Hazard, ii., 467 ; Hartford Rec, i., 12 ; ii., 1, 168 ; Col. Rec. Conn., 384-390 ; 
Bolton's West Chester, ii., 20, 162, 163 ; Riker's Newtown, 54. The particular reason 
why Captain Varlett went to Hartford was because his sister Judith had been imprisoned 
there, on a " pretended accusation of witchery ;" and the Dutch director's letter warmly 
urged her release. Judith afterward married Stuyvesant's nephew, Nicholas Bayard, and 
in 1686 resided in the " Hoogh Straat," or High Street, in the city of New York. 



nebeck. 



704 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XX. ages, and Father Le Moyne once more visited the country 

of the Iroquois. Though the Mohawks were implacable, 

1 e Mwnc ^^^® Western tribes showed friendship ; and deputies from 
im"uois'"^ the Senecas, Cayugas, and Onondagas, assembled at the 
12 August. goLind of the bell, which had once summoned the faithful 
to worship in the deserted chapel of the Jesuits. The coun- 
cil seemed inclined to peace ; but^the Western nations could 
1G62. not influence the fiercer Mohawks, and the next spring Le 
Sa.'" Moyne returned to Canada. 

After having crushed the Hurons, the Mohawks execu- 
ted their threatened design against the Eastern savages, 
.10 April, and a formidable war party visiting the English traders on 
' "tiTcKen- the Kennebeck, forced them to an unwilling traffic. Thence 
they proceeded to the Penobscot fort, where they surprised 
3 May. and captured a party of Abenaquis, who had come thither 
tlTcTbena- to trade. On their return, the Mohawks killed the cattle 
nTih" En- of the English, and robbed their store-houses "to the value 
^''^*'' of three hundred pounds." To obtain redress for these 
aggressions, delegates from Boston accompanied Captain 
Thomas Breedon, the governor of Nova Scotia, to New Am- 
27 July, sterdam; and the director at once proceeded with the En- 
glish agents to Fort Orange. The Mohawk sachems offer- 
ed an atonement of wampum, but would surrender no pris- 
oners ; and, abruptly breaking up the conference, they 
threatened, unless the English declared themselves satis- 
3 Aufiust. fied, to ravage the borders of Connecticut. At length Stuy- 
arranges^" vcsant arranged an accommodation, and purchased by pres- 
modati^n.' cnts the rclcasc of some of the captives. Breedon, how- 
ever, still unsatisfied, complained to the commissioners at 
Boston that " no recompense" could be obtained ; and the 
Sept. Board, apprehending "the insolencies and wrongs done by 
the aforesaid Indian Mohawkcs have been very great," rec- 
^Z'^a.' oiinnended the several colonies to allow the governor of 
Nova Scotia to enroll volunteers within their jurisdictions 
" for his just relief and satisfaction." 

At the very moment Stuyvesant and the English dele- 
gates were negotiating with the sachems at Fort Orange, 
a war party of Mohawks and Oneidas was threatening 



I 2 

Measures 
of IheN.E 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAl,. 7O.5 

Montreal. A post near its gates was attacked, and the chap. xx 
garrison killed or captured. Father Vignal was slain ; 
Brignao was burned at the stake. Three of the prisoners jg Augvi^i 
escaping with great difliculty, after nine days of constant ^^„°1"7,^. 
suffering and peril, reached Fort Orange, where they were H'^^ ''"" 
hospitably entertained and clothed. Thence they were 
conveyed to New Amsterdam, and finally reached (Quebec 
by way of Boston. The situation of Canada was now, in- 
deed, alarming. Reduced to forty-five associates, the im- 
poverished and disheartened proprietaries of New France 
resigned all their rights to the king ; and the surrendered Reorgam 
province was soon afterward conveyed by Louis XIV. to the govern 

1 ITT rneiit of 

the new and wealthier West India Company, which his New 

France. 

great minister Colbert had organized, and under whose 
auspices Alexander de Prouville, Marquis de Tracy, was 1663. 
commissioned as French viceroy in America.* '^ ^"^ ■ 

Stuyvesant had scarcely returned from Fort Orange 
when he felt himself called upon to interfere again, to 
check the progress of (Quakerism on Long Island. And 
now the scene of persecution was at Flushing. Among the 
early emigrants thither was John Bowne,t a plain, strong- joim 
minded English farmer. His wife soon became attached Flushing, 
to the society of the Q,uakers, who, owing to the severe 
measures of the provincial government, were obliged to hold 
their meetings privately, in the woods and solitary places. 
Bowne, out of curiosity, having attended some of these 
meetings, invited the Quakers to his house, and, before long, 
joined their society. The magistrates of Jamaica, faith- 24 August. 
ful to their promise, informed the director that Bowne's and fined 
house had become a "conventicle" for the Quakers of allingQuak. 
the neighboring villages ; and the new convert, upon being 

* Alb. Rec, iv., 423 ; xx., 178, 184-194 ; Hol. Doc, xi., 211 ; Hazard, ii., 462, 463 ; Re- 
lation, 166(1-1, 1661-2, 1663-4, 1664-5 ; Charlevoix, i., 348-380; Bancroft, iii., 148; O'Call., 
ii., 452, 453 ; Hildreth, ii., 91 ; ante, p. 647, 682. 

t Bowne was born at Matlock, in Derbyshire, in 1627. He came over to Boston in 
1649, and soon afterward settled himself at Flushing, where, in 1656, he was married to 
Haniiali, a daughter of Robert Field, and a sister of Elizabeth, the wife of Captain .John 
Underliill. In 1661, Bowne erected a fine dwelling-house at the eastern end of Flush- 
ing, where it may still be seen. Near this house were two large oak-trees, under which 
George Fox preached in 1672. One of these trees was blown down in September, 1841 ; 
the other, still standing, is supposed to be at least four centuries old. 

Y Y 



706 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XX. aiTestcd, confessed his offense. To punish Bowne's con- 

~ tempt of authority, Stuyvesant condemned him to "an 

14 Sept?' amend" of twenty-five Flemish pounds, and threatened 

him with banishment. 
•ji Sept. The next week, a new proclamation declared that the 

iamatfoT public exercise of any religion but the Reformed, " in 
i*^,iarian- houscs, bams, ships, woods, or fields," would be punished by 
ditioii. a fine of fifty guilders ; double for a second offense ; and 
for the third qviadruple, with arbitrary correction. The im- 
portation or distribution of all seditious books was forbid- 
den, under penalty of fine and confiscation. Strangers ar- 
riving in the province were to report themselves within six 
weeks to the secretary, and take the oath of allegiance. 
And magistrates who permitted the violation of this proc- 
lamation were threatened with immediate removal from 
office. But the threat of punishment did not repress the 
5 October, zeal of the Quakers. John Tilton, and Mary his wife, and 
Michael and Samuel Spicer, of G-ravesend, persisting in fre- 
quenting conventicles, were ordered to leave the province 
before the twentieth of November. Meanwhile, Bowne, 
refusing to pay his fine, had remained imprisoned at New 
Amsterdam ; and, at the end of three months, " for the wel- 
14 Dec. fare of the community, and to crush as far as it is possi- 
couneii ble that abominable sect who treat with contempt both the 
Bovine, political magistrates and the ministers of God's holy word, 
and endeavor to undermine the police and religion," an or- 
der was made in council " to transport from this province 
the aforesaid John Bowne, if he continues obstinate and 
pervicacious, in the first ship ready to sail, for an example 
to others." The Quaker convert, however, remaining firm, 
1663. the director executed his threat. Bowne was ordered on 
Bowrie board the Gilded Fox ; and Stuyvesant wrote to the Am- 
bani.sheri. g^gj.(jg^jy| Chamber that the contumacious prisoner had been 
banished as a terror to others, who, if not discouraged by 
this example, would be dealt with still more severely. 

But the banishment of Bowne was the harbinger of a 
better day for New Netherland. On reaching Amsterdam, 
the exile " manifested his case" to the directors of the West 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 707 

India Company, who did not utter " one word tending to chap. xx. 
the approval of any thing" that their provincial govern- 
inent had done against the (Quakers. So far from justify- 
ing Stuyvesant, they thus rebuked him in their next dis- 
patches. "Although it is our cordial desire that similar le Apni 

The \V. i. 

and other sectarians may not be found there, yet as the company 

111- 11 111 enjoins »i»l- 

contrary seems to be the lact, we doubt very much wheth- eration. 
er rigorous proceedings against them ought not to be dis- 
continued ; unless, indeed, you intend to check and destroy 
your population, which, in the youth of your existence, 
ought rather to be encouraged by all possible means. 
Wherefore, it is our opinion that some connivance is use- 
ful, and that at least the consciences of men ought to re- 
main free and unshackled. Let every one remain free as 
long as he is modest, moderate, his political conduct irre- 
proachable, and as long as he does not offend others or op- 
pose the government. This maxim of moderation has al- 
ways been the guide of our magistrates in this city ; and 
the consequence has been that people have flocked from ev- 
ery land to this asylum. Tread thus in their steps, and we 
doubt not you will be blessed." This reproof was effect- Persecu- 
ual. Persecution ceased in New Netherland ; and Bowne, 
returning after two years absence, met Stuyvesant as a pri- 
vate citizen, who " seemed ashamed of what he had done."* 

The Amsterdam Chamber also instructed their director 26 Marcn. 
that it would gratify them if the proposed settlement of tions"orme 
Puritans on the Raritan River, which might serve as a bul- pany ro-"'" 
wark against the Raritans and Minnisincks, should be car- PuHtalf ^ 
ried into effect. " The principal obstacle was the appeal on the rm- 
in criminal cases, and capital crimes of fornication, adul- 
tery, and similar offenses, which they punish according to 
the law and the expressed word of G-od. Against which 
maxim, although the laws of our Fatherland use some con- 
nivance in this respect, we make no objection ; but we 
could not willingly transfer to them the absolute disposal 
of all criminal cases whatever without appeal." The di- 

* Alb. Uec, iv., 427 ; xviii., 221, 222 ; xx., 199, 208-220, 230-233, 263, 291 ; Besse, ii., 
237 ; Thompson's L. I., ii., 74-79, 293-295, 386-388 ; Bancroft, ii., 300 ; Dr. De Witt, in N. 
y. H. S. Proc, 1844, 73 ; O'Call., ii., 454^57 ; ante, p. 689. 



708 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



Chap. XX. 



1663. 

Conces- 
sions or the 
W. I. Com- 
pany. 



20 July. 
Terms of- 
fered by 
Stuvve- 
8dnl. 



•Wars not 
"cceplcd. 



rectors, however, consented that no appeals should take 
place in cases of voluntary confession ; but this could not 
be conceded " in all other cases of a dubious nature." 
Further, " their laws, in punishing all similar crimes 
against the maxims of our Fatherland, should only be put 
in practice againi?t their own countrymen, and not against 
such of our nation as might settle among them." " Your 
honor must not give up this point as long as it is tena- 
ble ; it is of too high importance. If, however, the ob- 
ject in view is not attainable without this sacrifice, then 
your honor is authorized to treat with the English on such 
terms as, in your opinion, are best adapted to promote the 
welfare of our state and its subjects." 

On receiving this dispatch, so consistent with the con- 
ditions offered in 1661, Stuyvesant informed the applicants 
that most of their demands would be granted, and a char- 
ter be sealed to assure their rights. They would be allow- 
ed to elect their own magistrates, upon condition that these 
should be annually presented to the director and council 
to be confirmed and sworn. They might establish their 
own courts, and make such laws as they pleased, which, if 
found "to concur with the holy Scriptures," would be con- 
firmed by the provincial government. In convictions upon 
confession, capital sentences might be executed without 
appeal ; in " dark and dubious" cases, such as witchcraft, 
the consent of the director and council must be first ob- 
tained. In civil matters, an appeal was to be allowed only 
in cases exceeding one hundred pounds Flemish ; and new 
settlers were to be admitted only with the consent of the 
local magistrates, and upon their swearing allegiance to 
the provincial government. But fresh elements of discord 
had by this time sprung up between Connecticut and New 
Netherland ; and it does not appear that the Puritans, 
who, instead of being " obstructed by the then ruling 
Dutch," had been granted all they could fairly ask, ever 
availed themselves of the liberal concessions of the pro- 
vincial government.* 

* Alb. Rec, iv., 415, 416 ; xxi., 231-237 ; Denton's N. Y. ; Bancroft, ii., 317 ; O'Cnl!., 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 709 

Rejoicing in their newly-acquired patent, the Greneral chap. x3. 
Court at Hartford had lost no time in extendinar their iu- 
risdiction over the adjoining territory. New Haven, how- connecti* 
ever, feeling wronged, bore testimony "against the great J^j";!.^"!,,,. 
sin of Connecticut in acting so contrary to righteousness, ''^"■ 
amity, and peace," and poured out her griefs in a long let- /^ May. 
ter to the Hartford court. "While New Haven protested, 
the inhabitants of West Chester were placed in an embar- 
rassing dilemma. Stuy vesant, observing that they had not 9 May. 
made their usual annual nomination of officers, dispatched 
Waldron to inquire into the cause and summon the magis- 
trates to New Amsterdam. On reaching the capital, the 12 May. 

West Chen- 
West Chester magistrates were interrogated; and, upon ter submits 

acknowledging their error, they were discharged, and sent Dutch, 
back with a letter forbidding the people to send delegates to 
Hartford, and directing them to submit their nominations 
for officers. Mills, the ringleader, was, however, detained 
in prison ; and the next week the West Chester settlers sent 
in their nominations, out of which three persons were se- 34 May. 
lected and confirmed as magistrates. Upon this. Mills was 
discharged. The Connecticut council, presently appointed 
Captain John Taloott to go down to West Chester, and ad- 20 Juiy. 
minister the oath of a constable "unto him whom the inhab- 
itants shall desire and choose to that service, if he approves 
of the person." Repairing thither, with sixteen or eighteen .lurisdic- 
armed men, Talcott declared that the inhabitants were ab- necticuten" 
solved from their allegiance to the Dutch government ; sum- 
marily dismissed the old magistrates, and appointed others 
in their places. Thus Connecticut enforced her claim to 
West Chester, and, at the point of the sword, affected "to 
lead the inhabitants to the choice of their officers."* 

Early this year, a severe shock of an earthquake was Earth 
felt throughout New Netherland, New England, Acadia, 
and Canada. This was followed by a great freshet, which 
inundated the country and destroyed the harvests around 

ii., 448, 449 ; Whitehead's East Jersey, 22, 40, 181-183 ; ante, p. 688, 696. It would seem, 
however, that some of these persons afterward founded Elizabethtown, in New Jersey. 

* Alb. Rec, xxi., 80, 93-95, 103, 141, 143 ; Aitzema, iv., 112 ; Col. Rcc. Conn., 403, 405, 
406; Trumbull, i., 254-257, 517-520 ; O'Call., ii., 456 ; Bolton's West Chester, ii., 164-169. 



7X0 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XX. Fort Orange. The small-pox also broke out, and spread 
with fatal rapidity among Europeans and savages. At 
smsai ox Beverwyck, twelve of its slender population died in one 
w 0^*"^' week ; and a thousand victims perished among the five Iro- 
quois tribes. The court at Hartford, "understanding that 
n March, the hand of God is gone out against the people at New 
«ou"r8e" r'e'g- Netherland by pestilential infections," prohibited all per- 

ulations of ■ r l 1j.it -i r 

uonnecti- sons, commg irom any places where tne disease raged, from 
entering the colony ; and masters of vessels arriving from 
infected places were forbidden to land any persons or goods 
in any harbor of Connecticut. This order, however, was 

24 May. repealed about two months afterward.* 

Three years had now passed away since peace had been 

Affairs at Covenanted at Esopus, "under the blue sky of heaven," 

or Wild- between the Dutch and the savages. Industry had grad- 
ually repaired the losses of war, and numerous settlers, at- 
tracted by its pleasant situation, had flocked to Wiltwyck 
or Wildwyck. Domine Blom had continued his ministra- 
tions with success, and the church had increased from six- 
teen to sixty members, " so that this newly-rising com- 
munity began to grow and to bloom right worthily." A 

New vii- new village was laid out in the " Great Plot" for the rap- 
idly augmenting population. Most of the soldiers who had 
garrisoned the first settlement had been withdrawn, and 

"Ronduit," only a sergeant's ffuard was maintained at the "Ronduit" 

on the Kill. ^^ t ^ i ■ ^ ^ i -i 1 r -1 rr i 

or Kedoubt, which had been erected a lew miles oil, on the 
Kill, near its mouth. Yet the red men, who remembered 
their brethren whom Stuyvesant had exiled to Cura^oa, 
liked not the "new fort," which marked the progress of the 
whites ; and muttered threats foreboded a new outbreak 
of the Indians, who, in spite of all proclamations, were now 
supplied more freely than ever before with the " fire-water" 
and the fire-arms of their European neighbors. The tem- 
per of the savages had been reported to Stuyvesant, who 
5 June. sent word that he would soon visit Esopus. The sachems 
replied, that if he came to renew the peace, he should come 

♦ Alb. Rec, vi., 409, 428; Relation, 1002-3, 6-18 ; 1604-5, 92; CUarlevoix, i., 363-360; 
Renss. MSS. ; O'Cnll., ii., 483 ; Col. Rec. Conn., 398, 402. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 7II 

unarmed, and " sit with them in the open field outside the chap. xx. 
gate, according to their custom." 

In fancied security most of the villagers went forth to 
work in their fields. About noon-tide, bands of savaares, : .lunc. 

Wiltwyck 

entering all the gates, scattered themselves about, and, " un- and th<; 
der the guise of friendship," offered corn and beans for sale surprised. 
at the quiet cottage doors. In a few minutes mounted 
horsemen dashed through "the mill-gate," announcing that 
the Indians had destroyed the new village. The work of 
death went on ; houses were plundered and fired ; women 
and children were hurried as prisoners outside the gates; 
and the alarmed husbandmen, rushing toward their blaz- 
ing dwellings, were shot down by foes concealed within 
their own doors. Rallied at last by Swartwout, their The sav- 
schout. Captain Chambers, and Domine Blom, the few men pulsed. 
at home secured the gates, cleared the gun, and drove the 
savages out of the village. By evening all was still again ; 
sixty-nine efficient men were mustered ; the palisades were 
replaced ; and during the night the bereaved inhabitants 
kept mournful watch. " The burned bodies were most 
frightful to behold." Twenty-one lives were lost ; nine 
were wounded ; and forty-five, chiefly women and children, 
were carried off captives. Twelve houses were burned in 
Wiltwyck, and the new village was almost annihilated.* 

Intelligence of the calamity was quickly sent from Ron- 10 June. 
duit to New Amsterdam ; and Stuyvesant dispatched Coun- 
selor De Decker to Fort Orange, to raise a loan, engage vol- 
unteers, and enlist the Mohawks and Senecas. The lat- 
ter, however, were already at war with the Minquas ; and lajune. 
when the news from Wiltwyck reached Beverwyck, the Bever-" 
whole neighborhood was seized with panic. The farmers ^^^"^ ' 
fled to the patroon's new fort "Cralo," at Grreenbush; the Fort craio. 
plank fence which inclosed Beverwyck, and the three guns 
mounted on the church, were put in order ; and Fort Or- 
ange, with its nine pieces of artillery, was prepared against 
an attack. 

* Alb. Rec, xvi., 148-199; xviii., 193; xx., 113-120, 352; xxi., 87 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., 
iii., 962 ; iv., 39-44 ; ante, p. 76, 678, 690 ; note H, Appendix. 



1663. 

Re-enforce 
merits nen 
from New 



712 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XX. A re-enforcemeiit of forty-two men, under the command 
of Ensign Christiaen Niessen, was immediately sent from 
Fort Amsterdam to Wiltwyck ; and the inhabitants of the 
' metropolis and of the surrounding villages were offered 
diun'" large rewards if they would enlist. The chief men in the 
I'jjune. English settlements on Long Island discouraged the rais- 
ing of volunteers, and few were obtained there ; but a con- 
siderable force was collected in New Amsterdam, and for- 
ty-six "Marseping" savages from Fort Neck were engaged 

26 June, as auxiliaries. The command in chief was intrusted to 
expedition. Burgomaster Martin Kregier as captain lieutenant, under 

whom were Schepen Van Couwenhoven, Lieutenant Nich- 
olas Stillwell, and Sergeant Pieter Ebel. 

4 July. The expedition, sailing in two yachts, soon landed at the 

Ronduit, and marched up to Wiltwyck. Guarded wagons 
conveyed abundant supplies to the village, where a "coun- 
cil of war" was established ; and scouting parties were sent 
up the river to surprise some of the savages who lurked be- 

15 July, hind Magdalen Island. In a few days De Decker arrived 
from Fort Orange with five Mohawks, by whose mediation 
some of the Dutch captives were recovered. The Esopus 
savages, however, would not release the rest of their pris- 
oners, unless " Corlaer and Rensselaer" should bring them 

Fort at presents, and make a peace within ten days, at their fort 

gunk. upon the Shawangunk Kill, in the present town of Shaw- 
angunk, about thirty miles southwest of Wiltwyck. It 

26 July, was, therefore, determined to attack them; and Kregier 

Invasion of • i c i- i i i i • 

thcEsopu-s set out With a lorce or two hundred and ten men, two pieces 
of cannon, and two wagons, guided by Rachel la Montague, 
wife of Surgeon G-ysbert van Imbrocck, who had been tak- 
en prisoner on the seventh of June, and had escaped. Aft- 
er hauling the wagons and cannon over many hills, and 
crossing many streams upon bridges made of trees which 

27 July, tlicy cut down, the expedition arrived near the fort, which 

Couwenhoven, with one hundred and sixteen men, was 
sent forward to surprise. Coming up with his party, Kre- 
gier found his friends in possession, as the savagi^s, two 
days before, had fled with their prisoners to the mountains. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 713 

The fort contained several strongly-built houses, and was chap. xx. 
inclosed by three rows of palisades. Here the expedition 
remained overnight. At dawn of the next morning, Cou-ggjuiy. 
wenhoven was dispatched with one hundred and forty men, 
and a captured squaw as a guide, to a high mountain sev- 
eral miles off; but no Indians were there. As it was use- 
less to continue the pursuit of their subtile enemies, the 
expedition destroyed the corn of the savages, burned their 31 juiy. 
fort and houses, and, after a long day's march, returned in destroyed. 
safety to Wiltwyck. 

Unsuccessful efforts were made, through the mediation un.success- 
of the Wappingers, to obtain the release of the Christian tion or the 

111-1 1 • 1 -1 c Wappin- 

captives; and the bsopus savages having built a new lortgers. 
"about four hours" further off, another expedition was or- so August. 
dered. Heavy rains delayed the forces several days ; but 
at length, Kregier set out with fifty-five men, guided by a 3 Sept. 
young Wappinger. After a toilsome march of two days, 
they reached the new fort, about thirty-six miles south 5 Sept. 
southwest of Wiltwyck, and probably in the present town 
of Mamakating, in the county of Sullivan. Taken by sur- New eso- 
prise, the savages retreated across the Shawangunk Kill ; surprised. 
and the Dutch having slain Papequanaehen their chief, and 
fourteen warriors, besides several women and children, re- 
mained conquerors, with the loss of three killed and six 
wounded. Thirteen prisoners were taken, and twenty- 
three Christian captives recovered. Spoil enough " well to 
fill a sloop" was destroyed ; several guns and a quantity 
of ammunition were seized ; and the victorious expedition 
returned to Wiltwyck with the rescued captives and the 7 Sept. 
Indian prisoners, one of whom, refusing to proceed, was 
dispatched on the way. 

The enemy was now nearly crushed ; yet detachments 
were prudently ordered to guard the Dutch reapers in their 
fields. Even the peaceful Katskill savages were suspect- 
ed ; and a party was sent about nine miles from the fort, 24 Sept. 
to a maize plantation on the " Sager's Kill." No Indians, to^^e ^'^sL 
however, were found ; but some corn was secured, and the^'^'^'' 
party reported that " it is a beautiful maize land, suitable 



714 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XX. for a number of bouweries." This report is confirmed at 
the present day by the flourishing farmers of Ulster.* 
The council of war now resolved to dispatch a third ex- 
1 October, pcdition against the Esopus savages ; and one hundred and 
peiiition fifty-four soldiers and Long Island Indians marched from 
Ksopus In- Wiltwyck. The next afternoon they came to the scene 
of their recent victory, where all was now desolation. Sev- 
eral pits had been filled with dead Indians ; the unburied 
corpses of others lay around. Parties were sent into the 
neighboring woods, but no savages were seen. They had 
fled southward among the Minnisincks. The fort and 

4 October, wigwams were burned ; the maize was destroyed ; and the 

5 October, expedition returned in safety, after a fatiguing march 

through an incessant rain. 

Tranquillity being restored, Couwenhoven was sent back 
to New Amsterdam, with several of the soldiers and the 
9 October. Long Island auxiliaries ; and Wiltwyck, which now con- 
paiisaded taincd thirty-four occupied lots, was palisaded anew, " from 
the water-gate, along the curtains, unto the lot of Arent 
Pietersen Tack." After making arrangements with a AVap- 
pinger sachem for an exchange of prisoners, Kregier, leav- 
ing the post in charge of Ensign Niessen, with a garrison 
17 Nov. of sixty soldiers, paid a short visit to the capital. On his 
22 Dec. return, he found that some of the captives had been re- 
stored, and the release of the remainder been promised. 
2j Dec. Swartwout's conduct, however, having displeased Stuy ve- 
discharged. saut, lie was discharged from his office of schout of Wilt- 
wyck ; and Matthys Capito, the secretary of the village 
court, was installed, provisionally, in his place.! 
H Feb. Negotiations had meanwhile been going on between the 

Company' Wcst India directors and the burgomasters of Amsterdam, 
South Riv- which resulted in the surrender to the city of all the com- 
diy of Am- pany's territory on the South River, upon condition that the 
rights of the colonists should be respected ; sufficient garri- 

* The " Sager's Kill" is now known as the Esopus Creek, which, running northeaster- 
ly from Kingston, empties into the river at Saugerlies. The " Sager's Killetje," or Little 
Kill, crosses the road, and empties into the river about a mile north of Saugerties. 

t Alb. Rec, vi., 388, 415 ; xii., 331 ; xvi., 171-270 ; xviii., 248 ; xx., 313, 356 ; xxi., 129- 
181,203-208,249,201,294,313; New Amst. Rec, v., 248-257 ; Hoi. Doc, xii., 347 ; Renss. 
MSS. ; O'Call., ii., 473-462; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii., 964 ; iv., 41-98. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 715 

sons be maintained ; the space of a mile be cleared and set- chap. xx. 
tied, and four hundred emigrants be sent out every year ; ] 

and that the city should never sell or dispose of any part, 
upon pain of forfeiting the whole of their privileges. The 
commissaries of the city colony in an able report set forth 10 March. 
the commercial advantages which New Netherland would the city's 
enjoy if sufficiently peopled. Its trade with the West In- ^6?™'*^^' 
dies and the neighboring English colonies now employed 
two hundred vessels annually. The English near the South 
River had shown themselves well disposed ; and even if 
their own government should enforce the Navigation Act, 
they would still "open a small door" by which the Dutch 
might trade with them overland. To foster the colony on 
the South River would be the wisest expenditure of the 
city's funds. Holland was crowded with refugee Hugue- 
nots, Waldenses, Norwegians, and Grermans ; and many of 
a better class from Rochelle were desirous to emigrate to 
New Netherland at their own expense. All that these col- 
onists desired was to be protected from the savages for a 
few years in their new home. This report was received 
with favor by the burgomasters of Amsterdam, and large le March. 
sums were appropriated for the vigorous prosecution of the 
work of colonization. 

These views were warmly supported by Hinoyossa, who 25 June, 
arrived not long afterward. He represented the Maryland sa-s repre- 
authorities, with whom he had communicated, as anxious 
to promote intercolonial commerce ; that the Swedes, Finns, 
and others had already one hundred and ten plantations, 
and thousands of cattle and swine, besides horses and 
sheep ; that the city had already two or three breweries, 
and more were wanted to supply the English with beer, 
who, in return, could furnish a thousand tubs of tobacco a 
year ; and that ten thousand furs and other articles could 
be annually procured from the Indians and exported from 
the colony. These representations had their effect. The h Juiy. 

TT- -1 c in 1 T-» • • 1 Return of 

next month, Hmoyossa set sail tor the South River, with Hinoyossa. 
about one hundred and fifty colonists, and arrangements 
were made to dispatch another ship. 



716 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XX. The directors, on their part, informed Stuy vesant of their 
I proceedings, and ordered him to transfer to the city's agent 
J, sg J ■ all the company's possessions on the South River, as stip- 
iiie w^f ulated in the articles of agreement. In a subsequent dis- 
a'^s^pT^' patch they explained in detail that, by this step, they hoped 
ftruatonrto sccure the South River more effectually "from the en- 
saiu."^^*^ croachments of our English neighbors at the South, of whom 
nothing more favorable can be expected than from those 
of the North, who, notwithstanding the alliance between 
the crown of England and this republic, are continuing 
their usurpations." " It appears, too, that this city is will- 
ing to fulfill her engagements ; while she, since that event, 
not only with more zeal, but with more vigor, exerts her- 
self in watching her own interests in that distance, having 
resolved to transport to that country annually four hundred 
colonists and other useful husbandmen, if a larger number 
is not obtained, which must contribute to our security 
against the English North. We may expect, besides this, 
a more powerful intercession of this city with our govern- 
ment, to obtain from the crown of England the final set- 
tlement of the long-desired boundaries, for which we shall 
leave nothing undone, and communicate the result. Mean- 
while, we renew our recommendation to maintain yourself 
in possession of the territory which has been allotted to us 
by the provisional treaty, and to resist all new encroach- 
16 October, ments of our English neighbors." Rumors soon afterward 
lions reaching Holland that the Swedish government was equip- 
swiBdes ping two frigates to retake New Sweden, Stuyvesant was 
admonished to be on his guard, and directed not to remove 
the company's artillery from Fort Altona.*" 
May. In the mean time, the war between the Senecas and the 

troubles on Miuquas had produced great alarm at New Amstel. A 
River. body of eight hundred Senecas attacked the Minqua fort, 
but they were put to flight and pursued northward for two 
days. This only produced fresh rumors of war, and the 
Mohawks were reported to be preparing to assist the Sen- 

♦ Alb. Rec, iv., 415, 4.11, 4.'?7, 444, 447 ; vili., 352-363 ; xvii., 309-311 ; llol Doc, xt.. 
52-67, 81-85, 91-108; ante, p. 700. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 717 

ecas ; while the Esopus Indians, after the destruction of chap. xx. 
their fort at Shawangunk, were said to have encamped 
among their friends, the Minnisincks, at the head of the 
South River. News now came that the heir of Lord Bal- 
timore was about to visit Altona ; and Beeckman, finding 24 Juiy. 
that "here on the river not a single draught of French wine 
is obtainable," requested Stuyvesant to send him some 
from Manhattan, " to treat the nobleman with." The next q August. 

Calvert vis - 

month. Lord Baltimore's son, Charles Calvert, came to New its New 

Amstel and 

Amstel and Altona with a suit of twenty-six or twenty-sev- Aitona. 
en persons. Beeckman entertained him, not as a proprie- 
tary, but as a guest ; and their intercourse was pleasant 
and harmonious. In conjunction with Van Sweringen, the 12 August, 
schout of New Amstel, Calvert renewed the treaty with 
the savages ; but when it was proposed to define the lim- 
its of the two colonies, he replied that he would communi- 
cate with Lord Baltimore. The young nobleman took 
leave of his Dutch hosts in all good feeling ; and propos- 
ing to visit Boston the next spring, by way of Manhattan, 
he desired Beeckman to convey his thanks to Stuyvesant 
for his " offer of convoy and horses." 

Not long afterward, Hinoyossa arrived from Holland ; 3 Dec. 
and Beeckman. in obedience to the company's orders, im- returns 
mediately recognized him as chief of the Dutch on the land. 
South River. In a few days, Stuyvesant executed a form- 
al act, ceding to Hinoyossa, as the representative of the 22 Dec. 
burgomasters of Amsterdam, "the South River from the surrenders 

- . 1 • 1 r 11 ^^^ South 

sea upward so far as that river extends itseli, toward the River to 
country on the east side, three miles from the borders of 
the river, and toward the west side so far as the country 
extends, until it reaches the English colonies." The city's 
director organized his government ; made arrangements 
for the superintendence of the fur trade at New Amstel, 
Passayunk, and the Horekill ; and chose, for his own res- 
idence, a spot on the Apoquinimy Creek, just below New 
Amstel, where he proposed to build the metropolis, and 
promote commerce with the English in Maryland and 
Virginia. And Beeckman, now shorn of authority, ap- 



718 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XX. pealed to Stuyvesant for some official employment under 
the Provincial government, on the North River.* 
lODtJ. Meanwhile, the West India directors, mistrusting Wrn- 
throp, with whom they had conversed at Amsterdam, had 
instructed Stuyvesant to " explore his mind," and effect, if 
6 Sept. possible, a definitive settlement with Connecticut. The di- 
vSirBos- rector accordingly visited Boston, to meet the commission- 
ers of the United Colonies. Appearing before them, he 
19 Sept. complained of the non-observance of the Hartford treaty, 
uon wTth particularly with respect to West Chester, and demanded 
coinmis- whether they considered it still in force. Winthrop and 
Talcott, the commissioners for Connecticut, asked a respite 
of the question until the next year. The other commission- 
ers declared that, saving their allegiance to the king, and 
his majesty's claim, and the rights of Connecticut under 
her late charter, they held the Hartford treaty binding, and 
would not countenance its violation. At the same time, 
they advised that the case should be fully heard at the next 
annual meeting ; and that, in the mean time, "all things 
may remain and be according to the true intent and mean- 
ing of the aforesaid articles of agreement." This evasive 
reply, which practically gave Connecticut all that she re- 
quired, a year's delay, was a severe mortification to the 
21 Sept. Dutch director. He replied that the postponement asked 
was "frivolous;" yet, holding the Hartford treaty binding, 
he offered to submit all questions in dispute to " any im- 
partial committee not concerned in either right." But the 
23 Sept commissioners were inexorable ; and Stuyvesant, finding 
their "demands so great and heavy," proposed to refer "the 
matters unsettled to both superiors ;" and that, in the mean 
time, there should be a free intercolonial trade in the prod- 
ucts of the colonies, and a " neighborly confederacy and 
union against so great multitude of barbarous Indians as 
the Christian people of both nations are dispersed among." 
25 Sept. The commissioners rejoined that they would willingly see 

* Alb. Rec, xvii., 270-298, .TOQ-Sn, 317, 318; x\i., 413-115 ; xxiv.,28Ri Acrcliiis, 423- 
425; Chalmers, 301, 634; Smith's N. Y., i., 13; Bancroft, ii., 309; O'Call., ii., 470-472; 
S. Hazard, Ann. Penn., 343-356. Iludde, the former commissary on the South River, died 
at Apoquinimy, on his way to Maryland, on the 4th of November, 1603. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 719 

a " correspondency in traffic," not contrary to the late Act chap. xx. 
of Parliament, and would submit to their respective gov- 
ernments the proposition for a general union against the u„sJ^,iJ.'(^^,.. 
savages.* Thus ended the last conference between Stuy- o7stuyv"-' 
vesant and the commissioners of the United Colonies. sant's visit. 

On his return to New Amsterdam, the baffled director 
found that fresh difficulties had occurred. After executing Difficuiu.K 
his commission in West Chester, Talcott had crossed over island." 
to Long Island, and through his agent, James Christie, had 
announced to the people of Grravesend, Heemstede, Flush- 
ing, and Jamaica, that they were now under Connecticut, 
and no longer subject to New Netherland. Christie, how- 23 sept. 
ever, was promptly arrested by Stillwell, the sheriff of rested at 
Grravesend, and sent a prisoner to New Amsterdam. This 
exasperated the villagers, and a mob searched the dwelling 
of the obnoxious officer. Finding that he had escaped to 
New Amsterdam, they wrote to the council accusing himyesept. 
of having caused the hubbub ; and the people of Middel- 
burgh, still more excited, threatened retaliation unless 
Christie should be discharged. But the council, approv- 27 sept. 
ing Still well's conduct, ordered all the English villages to 
arrest and send to New Amsterdam any seditious emissa- 
ries. The representations of the Connecticut agent, how- 
ever, produced their effect. Several English inhabitants 29 sept. 
of Jamaica, Middelburgh, and Heemstede signed a petition pe^ftVon of 
to the General Court at Hartford, complaining of their ^ndww'ns 
"present bondage," and praying that Connecticut would J°,J;t°""'''" 
cast over them " the skirts of its government and protec- 
tion." This petition was dispatched to Hartford by a 
"trusty messenger," Sergeant Hubbard, whom Stuyvesant 
had released from imprisonment in 1656, upon his promise 
of good behavior. Besides submitting the petition, Hub- 
bard demanded that the G-eneral Court should take steps 
to reduce, under their authority, the adjoining Dutch vil- 
lages on Long Island. And to prepare the way for this Midwout 
change, an armed English party, headed by Richard Pan- 

* Alb. Rec, iv., 382, 405, 424 ; xii., 329 ; xviii., 224 ; xxi., 287-290 ; Hazard, ii., 479- 
483 ; ante, p. 700. 



720 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XX. ton, threatened the people of Midwout with the pillage of 
their property if they should refuse to take up arms against 
■ the Dutch provincial government. 

Stuyvesant now appointed Secretary Van Ruyven, Bur- 
13 October, gomastcr Van Cortlandt, and John Lawrence, a burgher 
missjoiiers of New Amsterdam, commissioners to the governuKint of 
Hartiord. Connccticut. At the same time, he drew upon the com- 
pany for four thousand guilders, to meet the pressing ne- 
cessities of his government. But the public credit had 
fallen so low, that the director could find no one to cash 
his bill until he pledged four of the brass guns of Fort Am- 
sterdam as security for the repayment of the advance.* 
15 October. The Dutch commissioners, setting sail from Manhattan, 
in two days landed at Milford. Procuring horses with 
some difficulty, they rode on to New Haven, where they 

18 October, lodged. The next day they reached Hartford, and found 
tionwith the Greneral Assembly in session, rejoicing in the recent 
Assembly, rctum of AViutlirop, their successful agent. The Assem- 
bly appointed Allen, Talcott, and Clarke as a committee of 
conference, and a long negotiation followed. The Dutch 

19 October, agents urged the Hartford treaty, and the recent advice of 

the commissioners of the other three New England colo- 
nies ; the Connecticut committee declined to yield to that 
advice, and sheltered themselves behind the royal patent. 

21 October. In vaiu did Winthrop himself expressly declare "that the 
intent of the patent was by no means to claim nny right 
to New Netherland, but that it only comprehended a tract 

23 October, of land in New England." The committee replied, "the 
governor is but a man alone," and "our patent not only 
takes in that, but extends northward to the Boston line, 
and westward to the sea." " In case there was another 
royal patent, between where would New Netherland then 
lie?" demanded the Dutch agents; and the Connecticut 
committee, without hesitation, answered, "We know of no 

"No New New Netherland, unless you can show a patent for it from 

Nether- . . . 

land." his majesty." This reply was nearly that of Calvert to 

* Alb. Rec, xxi., 303-341 ; Letters in Sluyvesant'.s lime ; Aitzema, iv., 1121 ; Hartford 
Rec , i., 13, 18; ii.,6; Col. Rec. Conn., 410 ; O'Call., ii., 483-487 ; Riker's Newtown, 55; 
ante, p. Cl'J. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 721 

Heermans and Waldron four years before. The Dutch chap. xx. 
agents appealed to the charter of the West India Com- 
pany, and the approbation of the Hartford treaty by the 
States Greneral. " They answered," is the record of the 
embassy, "that the charter is only a charter of commerce,* 
and the said settlement of the limits was only conditional : 
if you can not show a special patent for the land, it must 
fall to us. We said that the right of their High Mighti- 
nesses was indisputable, as appears by the first discovery, 
the purchase from the natives, the oldest possession, &c. 
They answered that they would let us keep as much as 
was actually possessed and occupied by our nation, but 
that we could not hinder them from possessing that which 
was not occupied by our nation." 

The fruitless negotiation ended with a proposition of the Demands 
Hartford committee that West Chester and all the territo- ucu""''** 
ry eastward should belong, "till it be otherwise issued," to 
Connecticut, which would abstain from exercising author- 
ity over " Heemstede, Jamaica, &c.," provided the Dutch 
would likewise forbear to coerce " any of the English plant- 
ations upon Long Island." This the Dutch agents deemed 
"wholly unreasonable;" but, by way of concession, they 
proposed that West Chester should, for the present, " abide Proposi- 
under Connecticut," while the disaffected towns on Long Dutch" 
Island should remain under New Netherland. Even this 
was not enough ; several of the Hartford men declared that 
" they knew of no New Netherland province, but of a Dutch 
governor over the Dutch plantation on the Manhattans, that 
Long Island was included in their patent, and that they 
would also possess and maintain it." In the evening, the 23 October, 
secretary handed a letter from the Assembly, addressed to 
Stuyvesant merely as "Director Greneral at the Mana- Return or 
dos," to the mortified Dutch agents, who, leaving Hart- agent".* 
ford the next morning, after three days' travelling reached 26 oc«ot>ec. 
New Amsterdam. 

More clearly to define their position, the Greneral Assem- 

* The charter of the West India Company was certainly much more ample than the 
English iiffected to consider it, for it bound the directors to "advance the peopling of 
those fruitful and unsettled parts ;" see ante, p. 135, 136, 666. 

Z z 



722 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XX. bly declared that West Chester and Stamford belonged to 
Connecticut ; and resolved that for the present they would 
Vet ofcon- '' ^ovhesLT to put forth any authority over the English plant- 
Tecun' '^'^' ations on the westerly end of Long Island, provided the 
lYr'^and'the Dutch forbcar to exercise any coercive power toward them, 
andwwns ^^^ ^^^^^ court shall ccasc from further attendance unto 
the premises, until there be a seasonable return from the 
General Stuyvesant to those propositions that his messen- 
gers carried with them, or until there be an issue of the 
differences between them and us."* 

While Stuyvesant was thus endeavoring to stay the prog- 
ress of Connecticut encroachment, the internal condition 
of the Dutch province was becoming more and more alarm- 
ing. Her treasury was exhausted. Long Island in revolt, 
and the Esopus war not yet ended. But if New Nether- 
land was too feeble successfully to resist, unaided, her En- 
glish neighbors, as well as the savages, it was not because 
"the province had no popular freedom, and therefore had 
no public spirit." The hour of trial again suggested an 
appeal to the people ; and the municipal government of 
22 October. New Amsterdam called upon Stuyvesant to summon a 
tion called " Laudt's Ver^aderinge," to deliberate on the affairs of the 

at New & & ' _ 

Amster- couutry. Letters were accordingly sent to the neighboring 
villages, enjoining each to depute two delegates to a con- 
vention at New Amsterdam. It was too late in the year to 
secure the attendance of deputies from Rensselaerswyck, 
Fort Orange, or Esopus. But Breuckelen, Midwout, Am- 

1 Nov. ersfoort, New Utrecht, Boswyck, Bergen, Haerlem, and New 

Amsterdam were all represented. The convention adopt- 

2 Nov. ed an earnest remonstrance to the Amsterdam Chamber, 
strafe to iu whicli the disastrous situation of the province was main- 
dam cifam- ly attributed to the mismanagement and supineness of the 

authorities in Holland. The people of Connecticut wen* 
enforcing their unlimited patent " according to their own 
interpretation," and the total loss of New Netherland was 
threatened. " The English, to cloak their plans, now ob- 

* Alb. Rec, xvi., 292-315 ; Ilaiard, li., 623-C33 ; Ailiema, v., 64 ; Pol. Rcc. Conn., 410, 
411,41.5,416; Trumbull, i., 260 ; O'CaJl., ii., 487^90 ; Bancroft, ii., 310 ; Helton, ii., I(i9. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 723 

ject that there is no proof, no legal commission or patent chap, xjc 

from their Hiffh Mightinesses to substantiate and iustify 

• . 1663 

our rights and claims to the property of this province, and 

insinuate that, through the backwardness of their High 
Mightinesses to grant such a patent, you apparently in- 
tended to place the people here on slippery ice, giving them 
lands to which your honors had no right whatever ; that 
this, too, is the real cause of our being continually kept in a 
labyrinth, and of the well-intentioned English settled under 
your government being at a loss how to acquit themselves 
of their oaths." Stuy vesant himself dispatched this re- lo Nov. 
monstrance to the Amsterdam Chamber, and at the same sant's di9- 
time urged that the boundary question should be settled ; 
that the States General should send letters to the English 
villages on Long Island, commanding them to return to 
their allegiance, and to the Dutch villages, exhorting them 
to remain loyal ; and, that the objections of Connecticut 
might be met, the original charter of the West India Com- 
pany should be solemnly confirmed by a public act of their 
High Mightinesses under their great seal — "which an En- 
glishman commonly dotes upon like an idol."* 

At this very moment a revolution was in progress on 
Long Island. News soon reached the capital that Anthony 9 Nov. 

Names of 

Waters, of Heemstede, and John Coe, of Middelburgh, with the Engusb 

•1 t -x • • 1 ^ r~y f 1 '^'"ages On 

a force of seventy or eighty men, had visited the English Long isi- 
settlements, changed the names of several, proclaimed the changed, 
king, appointed new magistrates, and tlireatened the Dutch 
villages. Gravesend and Heemstede retained their old 
names ; but Flushing was called " Newarke ;" Middel- 
burgh, " Hastings ;" Jamaica, " Crafford ;" and Oyster Bay, 
" Folestone." Stuyvesant, now thoroughly alarmed, dis- 
patched Fiscal De Sille with some soldiers to protect the 
Dutch villages. He also wrote to the authorities at Hart- is Nov. 
ford, accepting their proposition respecting a mutual for- surrenders 
bearance of iurisdiction, which the Dutch agents had de- westches- 

. . . ter. 

clined. By this step the director virtually surrendered to 

* New Amst. Rec, v., 333-353 ; Alb. Rec, xxi., 351-376 ; Ilol. Doc, xii., 291, 346, 363 ; 
O'Call., ii., 490-494; Bancroft, ii., 311. 



724 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XX. Connecticut West Chester and the English villages on 

Long Island. These villages had s^rown rapidly : and at 

1663 o » 1 J ? 

Meeting- Jamaica a "meeting-house," twenty-six feet square, was 

Jamaica'. ^^^^^ t^is year, in which Zachariah Walker, who had been 

educated in the college at Cambridge, but had not been 

ordained, preached for some time. 

The next month, some twenty Englishmen from Graves- 
end, Flushing, and Jamaica, went secretly in a sloop to the 
English Raritan River, for the purpose of buying land from the Nev- 
Raruan.' esiuclvs and Raritans. As the Dutch had already made 
6 Dec. large purchases there, Stuyvesant dispatched Kregier, 
Loockermans, and Cortelyou, with some soldiers, through 
the "Kil van Kol," to prevent the proceedings of the En- 
8 Dec. glish. Finding that they had gone up the Raritan, " Hans 
the Indian" was sent to warn the sachems, and arrived just 
10 Dec. in time to stop the sale. The English now went down the 
bay, "between Rensselaer's Hoeck and the Sandy Hoeck," 
The project whither they were followed by Kregier, who forbade their 
purchasing any land from the savages, as the largest part 
of it already belonged to the Dutch. "Ye are a party of 
traitors, as yc act against the government of the state," said 
Loockermans ; and the English replied, " The king's pat- 
ent is quite of another cast." The Dutch sloop now re- 
12 Dec. turned to New Amsterdam ; and the next day, some In- 
the'^Neve- diau saclicms came to the capital to sell to the Dutch the 
lands. remainder of the Nevesinck lands. A provisional agree- 
ment was soon made ; and Stuyvesant, to ratify it on his 
part, gave the savages presents of blankets and frieze "for 
their great chief Passachynon."* 
a June. In the mean time, the English Privy Council had ad- 

itiitruc- dressed a circular letter to the governors of the American 
Pr"vV'^"^* colonies, warning them against any further contempt of 
Enforce I h°e the law, whicli the statesmen of England generally esteem- 
. i!w'm the" ed "essential to its power," by trading "into foreign parts, 
i^Ln"'* f''"fn Virginia, Maryland, and other plantations, both by sea 
and land, as well into the Monadoes, and other plantations 

* Alb. Rec, iv., 444; xviii., 238, 240 ; xxi., 382-385, 418, 431-435; Hoi. Doc, xii., 389; 
Hartford Rec. Col. Bound., ii., 8 ; Whitehead's East .lersey, 22, 177-179 ; O'Call., il., 495, 
496 ; Thompson's L. I., ii., 97-101 ; Riker's Newtown, 59 ; ante, p. 313, 537. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 725 

of the Hollanders, as into Spain, Venice, and Holland." The chap. xx. 
possession of New Netherland by the Dutch was, in truth, 
the main obstacle to the enforcement of the restrictive co- 
lonial policy of England ; and the attention of the Plant- 
ation Board was accordingly directed to the situation of 
the obnoxious province. 

The tidings of the Restoration had attracted over from 
America several prominent colonists, among whom were 
George Baxter and John Scott, who had both been con- 
cerned in the troubles in 1654. Recommending himself 
as a zealous Royalist, Scott petitioned the king to bestow 
upon him the government of Long Island, of which he 
claimed to have " purchased near one third part," or to grant 
the inhabitants liberty to choose a governor and assistants 
yearly. This petition was referred to the Council for For- 26 .Tune. 
eign Plantations, which had already been ordered to con-^"**^^" 
sider Lord Stirling's opposing claim. Upon hearing Scott's scou's 
complaint, "that the Dutch have of late years unjustly in- to the 
truded upon and possessed themselves of certain places on Board. 
the main land of New England and some islands adjacent, 
as, in particular, on the Manahatoes and Long Island, being 
the true and undoubted inheritance of his majesty," the 
council, suspecting "that the good intention of the late Act 
of Navigation is in great part frustrated by their practices," 
ordered Scott, together with Maverick of Boston, and Bax- 16 .luiy. 
ter, to prepare a statement of the English title; of the required' 
"Dutch intrusion;" of their "deportment since, and man- Maverick,' 

-, . ii'i-i 1 1 1 ^"'5 Baxter. 

agement 01 that possession, and 01 their strength, trade, and 
government there ;" and, lastly, " of the means to make 
them acknowledge and submit to his majesty's government, 
or by force to compel them thereunto or expulse them."* 

Returning to America, Scott brought out with him the scott re- 
council's instructions regarding the Navigation Laws, and New- En 
royal letters recommending him to the New England gov- 
ernments. New Haven received him with favor, and en- 
deavored to engage his assistance in procuring a patent for 

* Lend. Doc, i ,119-129; N. Y. Col. MSS., iii., 43-46 ; Alb. Rec.,xviii., 168; Chalmers, 
242, 260-262 ; Hutch. Coll., 380, 381 ; ante, p. 671. 



726 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XX. the lands they coveted upon the Delaware, declaring that 
~~~ in England he had been a good friend of that colony. But 
■ Scott's chief object now was to promote his private inter- 
est, in securing the ascendency of the English over Long 
Island. He accordingly offered his services to the govern- 
s.-ott a rnent of Connecticut, which appointed him a commissioner 



commis 



sionerat at Sctaukct or Ashford, with the powers of a magistrate 

5etauket. - i • i i • • • • i m i -»^ 

throughout the island, in conjunction with lalcott, loung, 
and WoodhuU. The oath of office was administered by 
Winthrop ; and Scott earnestly set about the work of frec- 
l^ Dec. ing those whom he described to IJnder-secretary William- 
son as " inslaved by the Dutch, their cruel and rapacious 
neighbors." His first business was to arrange the diflicul- 
ties in the English villages, which, by Stuyvesant's accept- 
ance of the terms offered at Hartford, were no longer under 
the jurisdiction of New Netherland. These villagers, how- 
ever, were not unanimous. Those in favor of annexation 
complained that they received nothing but " if-so-be's and 
doubtings" from Connecticut, while the Baptists, Mennon- 
ists, and Quakers dreaded a Puritan government. They, 
II Dec. therefore, invited Scott to "come and settle" their troubles. 
1664. Upon visiting them, Scott announced that the king had 
Engusul^ii- granted Long Island to the Duke of York, who would soon 
lages. make his intentions manifest. Heemstede, Gravescnd, 
4, Ian. Flushing or Ncwarke, Middelburgh or Hastings, Jamaica 
lion" form- or CrafFord, and Oyster Bay or Folestone, therefore formed 
Scott elect- a "combination" to govern themselves independently of 
dent. Connecticut, and empowered Scott "to act as their Presi- 
dent until his Royal Highness the Duke of York or His 
11 Jan. Majesty should establish a government among them." Aft- 
er proclaiming the king, the new president, at the head of 
one hundred and seventy men, set out to reduce the neigh- 
scott'8 con- boring Dutch villages. Coming to Breuckelen, he fruit- 
uutch vti- lessly attempted to withdraw the inhabitants from their 
allegiance, and avenged himself by striking Captain Kre- 
gier's little son, who refused to take off his hat to the royal 
flag. Advancing to Midwout, Scott harangued the people 
"like a quacksalver," but could not shake their fidelity. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 727 

Amersfoort was equally loyal ; and New Utrecht refused chap. xx. 
to recognize the king, though the English forces took pos- 
session of the block-house, and fired a royal salute. 

The director immediately sent Secretary Van Ruyven, 
with Van Cortlandt, Kregier, and some others, to Jamaica, 
where a conditional arrangement was made with Scott, u Jan. 
who, announcing that he would return in the spring, warned ai arrang- 
the Dutch delegates that the Duke of York was determined maica! 
to possess himself not only of Long Island, but of the whole 
of New Netherland. Disorders, however, still continued; 
several Dutch families were obliged to abandon their dwell- 
ings; and the sellout and magistrates of the "Five Dutch 27 Foh. 
Towns," meeting at Midwout, drew up a spirited remon- strance or 
strance to the Amsterdam Chamber.* town.^. 

Stuyvesant now demanded the advice of the council and 
the municipal authorities of New Amsterdam. The bur- 8 Feb. 
gomasters and schepens recommended that the capital, mendation.x 

1-1 • 1 1-1 1 1 1 -1 T 1 of New 

which "is adorned with so many noble buildmgs, at theAmster- 
expense of the good and faithful inhabitants, principally 
Netherlanders, that it nearly excels any other place in 
North America," should be completely fortified, and its 
military force be increased, so as to " instill fear into any 
envious neighbors," and protect the province, which would 
soon become " an emporium to Fatherland." For this pur- 
pose, the municipal government offered to appropriate all 
its revenue, and also raise a loan, if the excise should be 
given up to the city. This the director and council agreed 
to, upon condition that New Amsterdam should enlist two 
hundred militia-men, and also maintain one hundred and 
sixty regular soldiers. In a few days, a loan of nearly 22 Pei). 
thirty thousand guilders was subscribed, at an interest of raised for 
ten per centum ; to secure which sealed letters surrender- the capital, 
ing the excise were handed to the burgomasters. While 
the city authorities thus took prompt measures for the safe- 
ty of the metropolis, they held that the "West India Com- 

* Lend. Doc, i., 132; N. Y. Col. MSS., iii., 48 ; Hazard, ii., 498 ; Col. Rec. Conn.. 
Towns and Lands i., 21, 25, 30 ; Alb. Rec, xviii., 237, 242 ; xx., 374 ; xxii., 68, 69 ; Hoi. 
Doc, xi., 253-2.'J9 ; xii., 303-327 ; xiii., 83 ; Bushsvick Rec, 35-39 ; O'Call., ii., 498-502 ; 
Thompson's L. I., ii., 321 ; Riker's Newtown, 60-62. 



728 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



1664. 



3 March. 
Agreement 
between 
Stuyvesant 
and Scott. 



18 March. 



19 March. 

General 

Provincial 

Assembly 

called. 



10 April. 
Delegates 
meet at 
New Am- 
sterdam . 



pany, which, instead of applying its revenue from New 
Netherland to the defense of the province, expended it in 
Holland, was chiefly responsible for the disorders on Long 
Island. 

Opinions, however, differed respecting the course to be 
pursued respecting " the usurper," John Scott. At length, 
Stuyvesant, believing it best to ratify the conditional ar- 
rangement which had been made in January, went with a 
military escort to Heemstede, where he met the president 
and deputies of the English towns. Burgomaster Van Cort- 
land, with Jacob Backer and .John Lawrence, were appoint- 
ed commissioners on the Dutch side, and Captain Under- 
bill, with Daniel Denton and Adam Mott on the English, 
and a formal agreement was concluded. The English 
towns on Long Island were to remain, without molestation, 
under the King of England for twelve months, and until 
his majesty and the States G-eneral should settle " the whole 
difference about the said island and the places adjacent;" 
the Dutch towns were to remain for the same term under 
the States General, "his majestie's royalties excepted ;" and 
the English were to have "free egress and regress" to and 
from New Amsterdam and all the Dutch towns, according 
to the arrangement in January, while the Dutch were to 
enjoy similar freedom in the English towns, "according to 
the laws of England."* 

New Netherland now appeared to be in such jeopardy, 
that the sellout, burgomasters, and schepens of the metrop- 
olis requested the director to summon another " Landtdag," 
to consider the state of the province ; and Stuyvesant 
promptly assenting, sent letters to the several Dutch set- 
tlements, requiring each to depute two representatives to a 
General Provincial Assembly at New Amsterdam on the 
tenth of April. Elections were immediately held; and, at 
the appointed day, the delegates met at the City Hall. 
New Amsterdam was represented by Burgomaster Cornells 
Steenwyck and Schepen Jacob Backer ; Rensselaerswyck 



* Alb. Rcc, xviii., 242 ; xxii., 138; Stuyvesant's Letters; Hoi. Doc, xii., 230 ; New 
Amst. Ilec, v., 410-429 ; O'Call., ii., 502-504, 578 ; Smith's N. Y., i., 2C. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 709 

by Jeremias van Rensselaer, its director, and Dirck van chap. xx. 
Schelluyne, its secretary ; Fort Orange by Jan Verbeck and ~ 
Grerrit van Slechtenhorst ; Breuckelen by William Breden- 
bent and Albert Cornells Wantenaar ; Midwout by Jan 
Strycker and William Guilliams ; Amersfoort by Elbert 
Elbertsen and Coert Stevensen ; New Utrecht by David 
Jochemsen and Cornells Beeckman ; Boswyck by Jan van 
Cleef and G-ysbert Teunissen ; New Haerlem by Daniel 
Terneur and Johannes Verveeler ; Wiltwyck by Thomas 
Chambers and Gysbert van Imbroeck ; Bergen by Engel- 
bert Steenhuysen and Hermanns Smeeman ; and Staten 
Island by David de Marest and Pierre Billon. As the me- 
tropolis, New Amsterdam claimed the honor of presiding ; presidency 
but Rensselaerswyck being the oldest "colonic," the chair 
was awarded to Van Rensselaer, "under protest." 

The Landtdag at once called upon the provincial govern- The as- 

1 . , , . . sembly's 

ment to protect the inhabitants against the savages and demands, 
the " malignant English." Stuyvesant replied that the di- 11 April. 
rector and council had even exceeded their powers in en-samsprop. 

ositions. 

listing and maintaining soldiers, and asked the delegates 
to furnish supplies for a regular force, or else call out every 
third man, "as had more than once been done in the Fa- 
therland." The Assembly now inquired whether it should 12 April, 
address the company or the States G-eneral. The director 
insisted that the people of New Netherland had not con- 
tributed to its support and defense ; that the company had 
expended on the province twelve hundred thousand guild- 
ers more than it had received ; and required the advice of 
the delegates in regard to hostilities with the Indians and 
the English, the enrollment of two hundred militia, and the 
raising of means by taxation. The Assembly, however, de- is Apru. 

,.. ,. T , . .' , Adjourn- 

clmuig to vote supplies, adjourned its session for a week.* ment. 

In the mean time, the West India directors, upon receiv- 
ing the dispatches of November from New Netherland, had 
united with the burgomasters of Amsterdam in demanding 
of the States Grcneral aid against Connecticut ; an act un- 21 Jan. 

* New Amst. Rec., v., 429-431, 450 ; Alb. Rec, xvlll., 237 ; xxii., 78-90, 105, 106, 145- 
182; Renss. MSS. ; Kingston Rec. ; O'Call., ii., 505-508 ; Bancroft, 11., 312. 



730 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



1664. 



Chap. XX. der the Great Seal, confirming the charter of the company ; 
mandatory letters to the several towns on Long Island ; and 
a prompt intervention with the King of England. The 

23 Jan. Statcs Grcneral now took those steps which, if earlier adopt-' 

the States cd, might liave prevented many unnecessary doubts, and 
have permanently secured New Netherland. The ambas- 
sadors at London were instructed to insist upon the ratifi- 
cation by the British government of the Hartford articles 

I Darter of of 1650. An act was also passed under the Great Seal, de- 

the W. I. 

Company, claring that the charter of the AVest India Company au- 

I thorized it to plant colonies in any unoccupied parts of 

America, from Newfoundland to the Straits of Magellan, 
and particularly in New Netherland, the boundaries of 
which were defined to be those agreed upon at Hartford. 

Letters to Letters, signed by the greffier of the States General, were 
likewise addressed to Oostdorp, Gravesend, Heemstede, 
Vlissingen, Middelburgh, Rustdorp, Amersfoort, Midwout, 
New Utrecht, Breuckelen, and Boswyck, charging them to 
• remain in allegiance until the boundary question should 
be settled with the King of Great Britain. Hoping much 
from the "peaceable inclinations of Governor Winthrop," 

1 Feb. the directors sent these documents to Stuy vesant by Abra- 
ham Wilmerdonck, one of their colleagues, and ordered six- 
ty additional soldiers to New Amsterdam. The provincial 
government was instructed to exterminate the Esopus In- 
dians ; to check the English, and reduce the revolted vil- 
lages to allegiance ; and to receive with favor a number of 
"Frenchmen of tl>e Reformed Church at Rochelle," who 

Return of now sought homes in New Netherland. Domine Samuel 

Samuel Me- Megapolensis, having taken his university degrees, at the 
same time returned to New Amsterdam, on terms similar 
to those agreed upon with Blom and Selyns.* 

•.>2 April. These dispatches were communicated to the Landtdag 

Opinion of. . a^-iim • i i 

lue Assem- when it met agam. After dehberatmg, the members con- 

lilv. ... 

sidered it impossible to execute the company's orders re- 

♦ Alb. Rcc, iv., 449-465 ; viii., 380 ; xviii., 295 ; xxii., 182 ; Hoi. Doc, ix., 302 ; x., 1- 
21 ; Groot Placaathoeck, ii , 3153 ; Aitzema, v., 64, 65 ; HoU. Merc., 1661, 10, 15 ; Hart. 
Rcc. Col. Hound., ii., 1 1 ; O'Call., ii., 508, 509, 579, 580 ; Ebeling, iii., 31 ; Selyns to Classia, 
9Ui JuiK!, lf.fi J ; ante, p. 643, 680, 723. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 73 1 

specting the English rebels, who were " as six to one, and, chap. xx. 
with aid from Hartford, would easily overcome and mas- 
sacre the few Dutch soldiers that could be brought against 
them." As the Esopus Indians were now completely hum- 
bled, and all the Christian captives, except three, recovered ; 
and as the Minquas, Mohawks, and river tribes were all 
urging peace, a general treaty was now thought advisable, 
especially as the Connecticut people had been discovered 
tampering with the Wappinger savages. 

In a few days, chiefs from Esopus, the Wappingers, and 
other river tribes, and from Hackinsack, Staten Island, and 
Long Island, met Stuyvesant, who was assisted by Wilmer- 15 May. 
donck and several of the most prominent citizens, in the 
council chamber of Fort Amsterdam. Sarah, the daughter sarah Kier- 
of Annetje Jansen Bogardus, and wife of Surgeon Hans pretcr. 
Kierstede, acted as interpreter. Calling on "Bachtamo," 
his Grod, Sewackenamo, chief of the Esopus Indians, gave 
the right hand of friendship to the director general ; and 
the last treaty between the Hollanders and the Indians was le May. 

Treaty of 

sisTied the next day, under a salute from Fort Amsterdam, peace with 

11 01 t r ^^^ Esopus 

The Esopus country, including the two Shawangunk forts, savages. 
now "conquered by the sword," was ceded to the Dutch. 
No savages were in future to approach the farms of the 
Christians ; but they might come to trade at the Ronduit 
with three canoes at a time. Reciprocal presents were an- 
nually to ratify this treaty, for the faithful observance of 
which the Hackinsack and Staten Island sachems became 
bound. Thus ended the Esopus war ; and Stuyvesant, 31 May. 
partaking of the universal satisfaction, proclaimed a day ml 
of general thanksgiving to the Almighty.* 

Roelof Swartwout, the discharged schout of Wiltwyck, 14 Feb. 

Ill • 1 1 ■ 1 • 1 c Swartwout 

had, meanwhile, been remstated, upon his asking pardon 01 reinstated 

T 11 1 at wm- 

the director. It was, however, thought proper to have awyck. 

more immediate representative of the West India Compa- 
ny's interests there ; and Willem Beeckman, whose employ- 

* Alb. Rec, xviii., 238-248, 259, 26.3 ; .xxii., 119, 180, 214-227, 245, 275 ; Hoi. Doc, xil., 
234 ; O'Call., ii., 509-511. Mevrouw Kierstede, having often acted as Indian interpreter, 
was presented with a large tract of land, on the west side of the North River, by 0ri>--- 
the chief of Hackinsack and Tappan. 



732 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XX. ment at the South River had ceased, was appointed com- 
[ missary at Esopus and its dependencies. His jurisdiction 
4 July extended from Katskill, where that of Fort Orange termin- 
rjpohueT ated, to the Dans-Kamer, just above the Highlands, which 
rHt^Es^o^ ^^^^ *^^® northern limit of that of Fort Amsterdam. The 
''"*• local court of Wiltwyck was to be in subordination to Beeck- 

man, who, as commissary, had the right to summon and 

preside at its meetings.* 
Settlement The provincial government having, in the spring of 1662, 

at Schaen- o' i o j 

hechstede. Confirmed Van Curler's purchase of Schonowe, upon condi- 
tion that the frontier settlement of New Netherland should 
be wholly agricultural, a "concentration" soon arose at 
" Schaenhechstede." The West India directors, however, 
were desirous to obtain a cession of the Mohawks' lands, 
" by which our English neighbors would be prevented from 
dispossessing the company of that immense beaver trade 
which our nation is in possession of by the Seneca Indians." 
Stuyvesant accordingly refused to allow Cortelyou, the sur- 
veyor, to lay out the lands at Schaenhechstede, unless the 
inhabitants would promise to devote themselves to agricul- 

Trade with turc, and abstain from any traffic with the savages. Against 

restricted, this iuvidious systcm Van Curler remonstrated in vain. The 
fur trade must be retained at Beverwyck ; and the Indians 
must not be tempted to repeat their attacks upon the wag- 
ons conveying merchandise across the plain. The schout 
of Fort Orange, of which the new settlement was a de- 
pendency, was directed to enforce these orders, and the sur- 

May. vev of Schaenhcchstcde was not permitted until the spring 

Surveyed. r ., ■ , ^ ^ ^ 

01 this year.t 

Notwithstanding the accommodation which Stuyvesant 
Hostilities had arranged in 1662, the Mohawks had continued hostile 
the Mo- to the Abenaquis, and had provoked the enmity of the So- 
Eastern quatucks, at the head of the Connecticut River, within the 
present State of New Hampshire. Upon the complaint of 
Colonel Temple, the authorities at Fort Orange held inter- 
19 May. views with the Mohawks, and afterward dispatched Jan 

* Alb. Rcc., xxii., 55, 56, 265-269 ; Acrelius, 425 ; ante, p. 302, 714, 718; App., Note R. 
t Alb. Rec., )V.,4I6; xxi., 135-139; xxii., 169, 234 ; Schenec. Papers, in Albany Clerk's 
Office ; O'Call., ii., 440-442 ; a7ite, p. 091. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 733 

Davits and Jacob Loookermans across the " Winterberg" chap. xx. 
or (Treen Mountains, to arrange a peace. At Narrington, ~~~ 
an English settlement, they met delegates from the East- rp^g p^^'^ 
ern tribes, with whom a treaty was concluded. The nextp™^^^* 
month, the Mohawk ambassadors, who came to "Fort Pa- 24 May. 
conthetuck" with presents to confirm the peace, were mur-21 June, 
dered by some Abenaquis, who are said to have been in- 
stigated by the English. War now broke out again. The 
Mahicans attacked the Mohawks, destroyed cattle at (Treen- 
bush, burned the house of Abraham Staats at Claverack, n Juiy. 
and ravaged the whole country on the east side of the North the Mahi- 
River. Alarmed for their own safety, the officers and peo- 
ple at Fort Orange entreated Stuyvesant to come up to 14 July, 
them at once.* 

In the mean time, the Hartford authorities, having sent 
Allen, their secretary, to confer with the delegates of the 
English towns at Heemstede, accepted them under the gov- 
ernment of Connecticut ; caused Scott to be imprisoned ; 
and declared "that they claim Long Island for one of those 22 May. 
adjoining islands expressed in the charter, except a pre- cut claims 
cedent right doth appear, approved by his majesty." They and.^ 
also authorized Pell to buy all the land "between West west ches- 
Chester and Hudson's River (that makes Manhattoes an 
island), and lay it to West Chester." When the Dutch 
messengers came with the letters of the States Greneral, 
and an address from Stuyvesant, the English either refused 
to receive them or sent them to Hartford. There they Treatment 
" caused not the smallest effect ;" for the Connecticut men, ters of the 
finding them unanswerable, pretended that they had beenerai.*^^ 
forged, either by the company in Holland or by its officers 
at New Amsterdam. Soon afterward, Winthrop visited the June. 
Long Island towns, removed the officers appointed by Scott, proceJd-^^ 
and installed others. Stuyvesant immediately went toi.ongisi- 
meet the Connecticut governor, and urged the Dutch title 
by discovery, purchase, and possession, as well as the obli- 
gations of the Hartford treaty. But all was unavailing. 

* Alb. Rec, vii., 394-404, 423-431 ; Hoi. Doc, xi., 23(5-241 ; Renss. MSS. ; Relation, 
lf.e3-4, 162, 163; O'Cal!., ii., 518, 519; ante, p. 704. 



734 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XX. Wintlirop, throwmg off any appearance of friendship, claim- 
~~ ed the country as his king's, and insisted that the English 
' title was unquestionable, " according to the proverb," wrote 
Stuyvesant, " Sic volo, sic jubeo, stat pro ratione voluntas."* 
De Decker, who had been for some months in Virginia 
endeavoring to obtain the release of a Dutch ship with a 
cargo of slaves from Guinea, which had been captured by 
an English privateer and carried into the Chesapeake, now 
Virginia scut intelligence of the threatening attitude of Virginia and 
land. ^ Maryland. Clouds seemed to gather all around New Neth- 
erland. Yet Stuyvesant was not discouraged. Agricul- 
ture had improved ; the prospect of the harvest was good ; 
and the French Huguenots from Rochelle, who had just 
come over from Amsterdam, were delighted with their new 
10 June, home on Staten Island. "It would, indeed, be highly de- 
hopefui. sirable," wrote he to the "West India directors, " that the 
yet waste lands, which might feed a hundred thousand in- 
habitants, should he settled and cultivated by the oppress- 
ed ; on the one side, by the Roman Catholics in France, 
Savoy, Piedmont, and elsewhere, and on the other, by the 
Turks in Hungary and upon the confines of Germany." 
Population. The population of the province was now " full ten thou- 
sand," while New Amsterdam contained fifteen hundred, 
and wore an air of great prosperity. Domine Warnerus 
Hadson, whom the Classis of Amsterdam had sent to the 
South River, died on his voyage out ; and the Dutch colo- 
nists there, whose children had not been baptized since the 
death of Welius, and who held the Lutheran clergyman 
Lokenius in little esteem, anxiously desired another min- 
ister. The arrival of Domine Samuel Megapolensis, how- 
17 July, ever, was joyfully hailed at New Amsterdam ; and Selyns, 
Domine whosc placc was supplied by the young graduate, received 
permission to revisit the Fatherland. t 

English jealousy had, meanwhile, grown with the in- 

* Juvenal wrote this line " Hoc volo, sic jubeo, sit pro ratione voluntas."— Sat. vi., 223. 

t Alh. Rec, xviii., 256-289, 295 ; xxii., 290 ; New Amst. Rec, v., 568 ; Col. Rec. Conn., 
418-431; Trumbull, i., 261 ; Thompson, i., 118; ii., 321, .•522 ; O'Call., ii., 511-514 ; Bol- 
ton, ii., 20, 169, 170; Riker, 62; Selyns to Classis, 9lli June, Drisiu.s, 5th Aug., 1664: 
ante, p. 670, 674. Domine Selyns returned to New York in 1682, as minister of the Col- 
legiate Church, and died here in 1701. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 735 

creasing commerce of Holland, and a rupture with the chap. xx. 
Dutch appeared to be near at hand. The East India di- 
rectors complained of their formidable Batavian rivals. England 
The African Company, of which the king's brother, James, fj^fd""' 
Duke of York, was the governor, denounced the Dutch West 
India Company, which had striven to secure its territory 
on the Gold Coast from English intruders. James, who 
had been libelled in Holland, became the advocate of his 
African Company with the king and with Parliament ; and 
Downing, the British ambassador at the Hague, having a 
personal interest, with menacing language pressed exorbi- 
tant demands for damages upon the States. An expedition, February. 
under Sir Robert Holmes, was secretly dispatched against African 
the Dutch possessions in Africa; and aggressions, which 
Clarendon described as "without any shadow of justice," 
were committed in the midst of a covenanted peace. 

A still more iniquitous measure was soon arranged. The complaints 
farmers of the revenue had complained that traders to Vir- ers of the 
ginia, N6w England, Maryland, and Long Island were con- '^^^^^^^' 
stantly conveying great quantities of tobacco to the neigh- 
boring Dutch plantations, the customs on which "would 
amount to ten thousand pounds per annum or upward ;" 
and the Plantation Board had taken measures to put the ^l Feb. 
British Acts of Navigation and Trade "carefully in execu- 
tion." The brother of Grovernor Berkeley, too, coveted New 
Jersey. To accomplish all objects at one blow, England 
now determined boldly to rob Holland of her American 
province. The king accordingly sealed a patent granting J | March, 
to the Duke of York and Albany a large territory in Amer- ^nTfoC" 
ica, comprehending Long Island and the islands in its neigh- ^o^/" 
borhood — his title to which Lord Stirling had released — 
and all the lands and rivers from the west side of the Con- 
necticut River to the east side of Delaware Bay. This 
sweeping grant included the whole of New Netherland, and 
a part of the territory of Connecticut, which, two years be- 
fore, Charles had confirmed to Winthrop and his associates. 
The Duke of York lost no time in giving effect to his 
)atent. As Lord High Admiral, he directed the fleet. 



736 



HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



1664. 

Squadron 
detached 
against 
New Neth- 
crland. 



12 April. 
Nicolls ap- 
pointed 
deputy gov- 
ernor. 



25 April. 

5 May. 
Royal com- 
missioners. 



24 June. 
Nova Cas- 
sarea or 
New Jersey 
conveyed to 
Berkeley 
and Carte- 
ret. 



8 July. 

VVillett 

warns 

Stuyve- 

sant. 



Prepara- 
tions at 
New Am- 
sterdam. 



Four ships, the Guinea, of thirty-six guns; the Elias, of 
thirty ; the Martin, of sixteen ; and the William and Nich- 
olas, of ten, were detached for service against New Neth- 
erland, and about four hundred and fifty regular soldiers, 
with their officers, were embarked. The command of the 
expedition was intrusted to Colonel Richard Nicolls, a 
faithful Royalist, who had served under Tiirenne with 
James, and had been made one of the gentlemen of his 
bed-chamber. Nicolls was also appointed to be the duke's 
deputy governor, after the Dutch possessions should have 
been reduced. With Nicolls were associated Sir Robert 
Carr, Colonel George Cartwright, and Samuel Maverick, as 
royal commissioners to visit the several colonies in New 
England. These commissioners were furnished with de- 
tailed instructions ; and the New England governments 
were required by royal letters to "join and assist them vig- 
orously" in reducing the Dutch to subjection. A month 
after the departure of the squadron, the Duke of York 
conveyed to Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret all the 
territory between the Hudson and Delaware Rivers, from 
Cape May north to forty-one degrees and forty minutes of 
latitude, and thence to the Hudson, in forty-one degrees of 
latitude, "hereafter to be called by the name or names of 
Nova Caesarea or New Jersey.* 

Intelligence from Boston that an English expedition 
against New Netherland had sailed from Portsmouth was 
soon communicated to Stuyvesant by Captain Thomas 
Willett; and the burgomasters and schepens of New Am- 
sterdam were summoned to assist the council with their 
advice. The capital was ordered to be put in a state of de- 
fense; guards to be maintained ; and schippers to be warn- 
ed. As there was very little powder at Fort Amsterdam, 
a supply was demanded from New Amstel ; and a lonn of 
five or six thousand guilders was asked from Rensselaers- 

* Lond. Doc, i., 130-180 ; iii., 99 ; xvi., 253 ; N. Y. Col. MSS., iii., 47-65, 10!), 225 ; Alb. 
Rec, xviii., 259; Charter, in State Library; Patents, i., 109-121 ; Hazard, ii., fi.')-!-640 ,• 
Trnmblll!, i., 522-524 ; Hutchinson, i., 459; Smith, i., 14-16 ; O'Ciill., ii, 517 ; Whitehead, 
30-37 ; Let. d'Estrades, ii., 435^74 ; Lister's Clarendon, ii., 258, 328 ; Lln-'ard, \li.. 163- 
168; Davies, iii. ,20,21 ; Diier's Life of Stirling, 37. On the 30th of July, 1674, the Duke of 
York granted an annuity of X300, out ofthe revenue of his colony, to Henry, Earl of Stirling. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 737 



1664. 



wyck. The ships about to sail for Cura^oa were stopped ; chap. xx. 
agents were sent to purchase provisions at New Haven ; ' 
and, as the enemy was expected to approach through Long 
Island Sound, spies were sent to obtain intelligence at West 
Chester and Milford. But at the moment when no precau- 
tion should have been relaxed, a dispatch from the West Dispatch 
India directors, who appear to have been misled by advices l c^mpa- 
from London, announced that no danger need be apprehend- '"^' 
ed from the English expedition, as it was sent out by the 
king only to settle the affairs of his colonies, and establish 
Episcopacy, which would rather benefit the company's in- 
terests in New Netherland. Willett now retracting his 
previous statements, a perilous confidence returned. The 
Cura(;oa ships were allowed to sail ; and Stuyvesant, yield- o August. 
ing to the solicitation of his council, went up the river to goeJt'lj^Fort 
look after affairs at Fort Orange.* Grange. 

The English squadron had been ordered to assemble at May. 
Grardiner's Island. But, parting company in a fog, the i| juiy. 
Guinea, with Nicolls and Cartwright on board, made Cape 
Cod, and went on to Boston, while the other ships put in 
at Piscataway. The commissioners immediately demand- 27 juiy. 
ed the assistance of Massachusetts ; but the people of the Eitwfslf '' 
Bay, who feared, perhaps, that the king's success in reduc- skJlJ^'s^'at 
ing the Dutch would enable him the better to put down ^°*^°"- 
his enemies in New England, were full of excuses. Con- 
necticut, however, showed sufficient alacrity; and Win-sojuiy. 
throp was desired to meet the squadron at the west end of ^ ^"i^ust. 
Long Island, whither it would sail with the first fair wind. 

When the truth of Willett's intelligence became confirm- 
ed, the council sent an express to recall Stuyvesant from 
Fort Orange. Hurrying back to the capital, the anxious stuyves.-.; 
director endeavored to redeem the time which had been New Ain 
lost. The municipal authorities ordered one third of the 25 AufruM 
inhabitants, without exception, to labor every third day at 

* Alb. Rec, xviii., 286, 298 ; xx., 377 ; xxii., 271-276 ; Hoi. Doc, xi., 219-239 ; xii., 92- 
119; New Amst. Rec, v., 522-524 ; Smith, i., 16 ; O'Call., ii., 517, 518 ; Thompson, i., 121, 
130 ; Let. d'E.strades, ii., 459 ; ante, p. 519. Willett, who had been one of Stuyvesant's 
arbitrators at Hartford in 1650, afterward became the first English mayor of New York, 
and was the ancestor of the late Colonel Marinus Willett. 

A A A 



738 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XX. the fortifications ; organized a permanent guard ; forbade 
the brewers to malt any grain ; and called on the provin- 
Arran e- ^^^^ government for artillery and ammunition. Six pieces, 
defense""^ besides the fourteen previously allotted, and a thousand 
26 August, pounds of powder, were accordingly granted to the city. 
The colonists around Fort Orange, pleading their own dan- 
29 August, ger from the savages, could afford no help ; but the soldiers 
c^iedfrom at Esopus wcrc ordered to come down, after leaving a small 
""^ ^' garrison at the Ronduit. 
English In the mean time, the English squadron had anchored 

mNjack just below the Narrows, in Nyack Bay, between New 
^^' Utrecht and Coney Island. The mouth of the river was 
shut up; communication between Long Island and Man- 
hattan, Bergen and Achter Cul, interrupted ; several yachts, 
on their way to the South River, captured ; and the blook- 
i| August, house on the opposite shore of Staten Island seized. Stuy- 
sant'I^mes- vcsaut now dispatchcd Counselor De Decker, Burgomaster 
**^'^' Van der Grrist, and the two Domines Megapolensis, with 
a letter to the English commanders, inquiring why they had 
come, and why they continued at Nyack without giving no- 
tice. The next morning, which was Saturday, Nicolls sent 
Colonel Cartwright, Captain Needham, Captain Grroves, 
f^ August, and Mr. Thomas Delavall up to Fort Amsterdam, with a 
summoned summous for the surrender of "the town situate on the isi- 
^o surren- ^^^ commouly kuowu by the name of Manhattoes, with all 
the forts thereunto belonging." This summons was ac- 
companied by a proclamation declaring that all who would 
Terms of- submit to his majcsty's government should be protected 
Nicolls. "in his majesty's laws and jvistice," and peaceably enjoy 
their property. Stuyvesant immediately called together 
the council and the burgomasters, but would not allow the 
terms offered by Nicolls to be communicated to the people, 
lest they might insist on capitulating. In a short time, 
several of the burghers and city officers assembled at the 
Stadt-Huys. It was determined to prevent the enemy from 
surprising the town ; but, as opinion was generally against 
protracted resistance, a copy of the English communication 
is.pt. was asked from the director. On the following Mondiiy, 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 739 

the burgomasters explained to a meeting of the citizens chap, xx- 
the terms offered by NicoUs. But this would not suffice ; 
a copy of the paper itself must be exhibited. Stuyvesant 
then went in person to the meeting. " Such a course," stuyvesam 

111 1- i,--iT-iii 1- endeavors 

said he, "would be disapproved of in the f^atherland — ittowuh- 

A 11 1 • re hold then-.. 

would discourage the people. All his enorts, however, 

were vain ; and the director, protesting that he should not 

be held answerable for "the calamitous consequences," 

was obliged to yield to the popular will.* 

NicoUs now addressed a letter to Winthrop, who with 2 Sept. 

^ . . NicoUs' let- 

other commissioners from New England had ioined thetertowin- 

^ '' . throp. 

squadron, authorizing him to assure Stuyvesant that, if 
Manhattan should be delivered up to the king, "any people 
from the Netherlands may freely come and plant there, or 
thereabouts ; and such vessels of their own country may 
freely come thither, and any of them may as freely return 
home in vessels of their own country." Visiting the city 
under a flag of truce, Winthrop delivered this to Stuyvesant Handed to. 
outside the fort, and urged him to surrender. The director sant. 
declined ; and, returning to the fort, he opened NicoUs' let- 
ter before the council and the burgomasters, who desired 
that it should be communicated, as " all which regarded 
the public welfare ought to be made public." Against 
this Stuyvesant earnestly remonstrated ; and finding that 
the burgomasters continued firm, in a fit of passion he " tore stuyvesam 
the letter in pieces." The citizens, suddenly ceasing their oils' letter, 
work at the palisades, hurried to the Stadt-Huys, and sent 
three of their number to the fort to demand the letter. In 
vain the director hastened to pacify the burghers and urge 
them to go on with the fortifications. " Complaints and 
curses" were uttered on all sides against the company's 
misgovernment ; resistance was declared to be idle; "the 
letter ! the letter !" was the general cry. To avoid a mu- 
tiny, Stuyvesant yielded, and a copy, made out from the 
collected fragments, was handed to the burgomasters. In 

* Lend. Doc, i., 181-187 ; N. Y. Col. MSS., iii., 65-67 ; New Amst. Rec, v., 552-554 ; 
Alb. Rec, xviii., 302-304, 312-315 ; xxii., 307, 385 ; Hoi. Doc, xi., 242-244 ; xii., 98-103, 
121,143-153; xiii.,24,50; Kingston Rec ; Oyster Bay Rec. ; Smith, i., 17-20, 388; O'Call., 
ii., 520-523; Bancroft, ii., 314; Thompson, ii., 196. 



740 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XX. answer, however, to Nicolls' summons, he submitted a long 
justification of the Dutch title ; yet, while protesting against 
2 Sept ^".y ^^'sach of the peace between the king and the States 
mtPsum-'" G-eneral, "for the hinderance and prevention of all diflfer- 
Kions. ences and the spilling of innocent blood, not only in these 
parts, but also in Europe," he offered to treat. " Long 
Lasidia- Island is gone and lost;" the capital "can not hold out 
Amster- loug," was the last dispatch to the " Lords Majors" of New 
Netherland, which its director sent off that night "in si- 
lence through Hell-gate." 

Observing Stuyvesant's reluctance to surrender, Nicolls 
directed Captain Hyde, who commanded the squadron, to 
reduce the fort. Two of the ships accordingly landed their 
troops just below Breuckelen, where volunteers from New 
England and the Long Island villages had already encamp- 
Engiish ed. The other two, coming up with full sail, passed in front 
chor before of Fort Amsterdam, and anchored between it and Nutten 
iiterdam. Island. Standing on one of the angles of the fortress — an 
artilleryman with a lighted match at his side — the director 
watched their approach. At this moment, the two Domi- 
nes Megapolensis, imploring him not to begin hostilities, led 
Stuyvesant from the rampart, who then, with a hundred of 
the garrison, went into the city to resist the landing of the 
ia A ugust. English. Hoping on against hope, the director now sent 
stuyv'esant Couusclor Dc Deckcr, Secretary Van Ruyven, Burgomaster 
4n°accom- Stceuwyck, and Schepen Cousseau, with a letter to Nicolls, 
n^odation. gloating that though he felt bound "to stand the storm," he 
desired, if possible, to arrange an accommodation. But the 
English commander merely declared, " To-morrow I will 
speak with you at Manhattan." " Friends," was the an- 
swer, "will be welcome, if they come in a friendly man- 
Kopiy of ner." " I shall come with ships and soldiers," replied Nio- 

Nicolls. ^ ' 

oils; "raise the white flag of peace at the fort, and then 
something may be considered."* 

When this imperious message became known, men, 

* Alb. Rec, xviii., 302-304, 316-320 ; xxii., 314-318 ; Gen. Entries, i., 12-26 ; IIoI. Doc, 
xii., 25, 145-163 ; xiii., 54, 55, 94 ; New Amst. Rec., v , 567 ; Drisius to Classis, 15lh of 
September, 1664 ; Smith, i., 20-27 ; Bancroft, ii., 314 ; O'Call., ii., 523-527 ; Thompson, i., 
128, 129. 



PETER STUYVESANT, DIRECTOR GENERAL. 741 

women, and children flocked to the director, beseeching him chap. xx. 
to submit. His only answer was, "I would much rather 
be carried out dead." The next day, the city authorities, g g 
the clergymen, and the officers of the burgher guard, as- fjraTc" of 
sembling at the Stadt-Huys, at the suggestion of Domine JoVtuyv^e"' 
Megapolensis adopted a remonstrance to the director, ex- **"'" 
hibiting the hopeless situation of New Amsterdam, on all 
sides " encompassed and hemmed in by enemies," and pro- 
testing against any further opposition to the will of God. 
Besides the schout, burgomasters, and schepens, the remon- 
strance was signed by Wilmerdonck and eighty-five of the 
principal inhabitants, among whom was Stuyvesant's own 
son Balthazar. At last the director was obliged to yield. 
Although there were now fifteen hundred souls in New Am- condition 
sterdam, there were not more than two hundred and fifty Amster- 
men able to bear arms, besides the one hundred and fifty 
regular soldiers. The people had at length refused to be 
called out, and the regular troops were already heard talk- 
ing of *' where booty is to be found, and where the young 
women live who wear gold chains." The city, entirely open 
along both rivers, was shut on the northern side by a breast- 
work and palisades, which, though sufficient to keep out the 
savages, afforded no defense against a military siege. There 
were scarcely six hundred pounds of serviceable powder in 
store. A council of war had reported Fort Amsterdam un- 
tenable ; for though it mounted twenty-four guns, its single 
wall of earth, not more than ten feet high and four thick, 
was almost touched by the private dwellings clustered 
around, and was commanded, within a pistol-shot, by hills 
on the north, over which ran the " Heereweg" or Broadway. 
Upon the faith of NicoUs' promise to deliver back the city 
and fort, " in case the difference of the limits of this province 
be agreed upon betwixt his majesty of England and the" 
High and Mighty States General," Stuyvesant now commis- 5 sept. 
sioned Counselor John de Decker, Captain Nicholas Varlett, mi'ssione?^' 
Doctor Samuel Megapolensis, Burgomaster Cornells Steen- *^^°'" 
wyck, old Burgomaster Oloff Stevensen van Cortland t, and 
old Schepen Jacques Cousseau, to agree upon articles with 



742 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XX. the English commander or his representatives. Nicolls, on 
his part, appointed Sir Robert Carr and Colonel Greorge 
En-'iisii Cartwright, John Winthrop and Samuel Willys, of Connec- 
"jon^r ticut, and Thomas Clarke and John Pynchon, of Massachu- 
setts. " The reason why those of Boston and Connecticut 
were joined," afterward explained the royal commander, 
" was because those two colonies should hold themselves 
the more engaged with us, if the Dutch had been over-con- 
2T August, fident of their strength." At eight o'clock the next morn- 
capuuia- ii^gj which was Saturday, the commissioners on both sides 
tcTat^stuy- niet at Stuyvesant's " bouwery," and arranged the terms 
bouwery. of capitulation. The only difference which arose was re- 
specting the Dutch soldiers, whom the English refused to 
convey back to Holland. The articles of capitulation prom- 
ised the Dutch security in their property, customs of in- 
heritance, liberty of conscience, and church discipline. The 
municipal officers of Manhattan were to continue for the 
present unchanged, and the town was to be allowed to 
choose deputies, with "free voices in all public affairs." 
Owners of property in Fort Orange might, if they pleased, 
"slight the fortifications there," and enjoy their houses "as 
people do where there is no fort." For six months there 
was to be free intercourse with Holland. Public records 
were to be respected. The articles, consented to by Nic- 
olls, were to be ratified by Stuyvesant the next Monday 
morning at eight o'clock, and within two hours afterward, 
the " fort and town called New Amsterdam, upon the Isle 
of Manhatoes," were to be delivered up, and the military 
officers and soldiers were to "march out with their arms, 
drums beating, and colors flying, and lighted matches."* 
8 Sept. On the following Monday morning at eight o'clock, Stuy- 

ofFortAm- vesant, at the head of the garrison, marched out of Fort 
Amsterdam with all the honors of war, and led his soldiers 
down the Beaver Lane to the water side, whence they were 
Occupation embarked for Holland. An English corporal's guard at the 
by the Eu- samc time took possession of the fort; and Nicolls and Carr, 
with their two companies, about a hundred and seventy 

* See articles at length in Appendix, note S. 



I 



RICHARD NICOLLS, GOVERNOR. 743 

strong, entered the city, while Cartwright took possession chap. xx. 

of the gates and the Stadt-Huys. The New England and 

Long Island volunteers, however, were prudently kept at 

the Breuckelen ferry, "as the citizens dreaded most being 

plundered by them." The English flag was hoisted on 

Fort Amsterdam, the name of which was immediately Fort Am- 
sterdam 
changed to "Fort James." NicoUs was now proclaimed caiied Fort 

1 T\ c -vT James. 

by the burgomasters deputy governor for the Duke of York ; 
in compliment to whom he directed that the city of New 
Amsterdam should thenceforth be known as "New York." cuyof 

• 1 • New York. 

To Nicolls' European eye the Dutch metropolis, with its 
earthen fort inclosing a wind-mill and high flag-staff", a 
prison and a governor's house, and a double-roofed church, 
above which loomed a square tower, its gallows and whip- 
ping-post at the river's side, and its rows of houses which 
hugged the citadel, presented but a mean appearance. 
Yet, before long, he described it to the duke as " the bestNicoiis' 

. . ■ ^ -I II- opinion of 

of all his majesty s towns in America,' and assured his the city. 
royal highness that, with proper management, " within five 
years the staple of America will be drawn hither, of which 
the brethren of Boston are very sensible."* 

The Dutch frontier posts were thought of next. Colonel 
Cartwright, with Captains Thomas Willett, John Manning, 
Thomas Breedon, and Daniel Brodhead, were sent to Fort |" Sept. 
Orange, as soon as possible, with a letter from Nicolls re- of Fort or- 
quiring La Montague and the magistrates and inhabitants 
to aid in prosecuting his majesty's interest against all who 
should oppose a peaceable surrender. At the same time. 
Van Rensselaer was desired to bring down his patent and 
papers to the new governor, and likewise to observe Cart- 
wright's directions. Counselor De Decker, however, trav- 
elling up to Fort Orange ahead of the English commission- 
ers, endeavored, without avail, to excite the inhabitants to 
opposition ; and his conduct being judged contrary to the 

* New Amst. Rec, v., 567-570 ; Alb. Rec, xviii., 321-334 ; Hoi. Doc, x., 129-148 ; xi., 
164-274 ; xii., 57-64, 104-290; xiii., 51, 53; Lend. Doc, ii., 53, 64; N. Y. Col. MSS., iii., 
103, 106; Gen. Entries, i., 22-33 ; Busliwick Rec; Smith, i., 27-32 ; O'Call., ii,, 527-536; 
Bancroft, ii., 315; Drisius to Classis, 15lh September, 1664; Montanus, in Doc. Hist. N. 
Y., iv., 116 ; Heylin's Cosmography. 



744 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XX. spirit of the capitulation which he had signed, he was soon 
afterward ordered out of Nicolls' government. The garri- 
Fort Or- ^'^^ quictly surrendered, and the name of Fort Orange was 
*^f„'',,,, p.„ri changed to that of "Fort Albany," after the second title 
•4"s.''|it! of the Duke of York. A treaty was immediately signed 
wit'h aie between Cartwright and the sachems of the Iroquois, who 
Kavages. -^gj-g pvomiscd the same advantages "as heretofore they 
had from the Dutch ;" and the alliance which was thus 
renewed continued unbroken until the beginning of the 
American Revolution.* 
,?j Sept. It only remained to reduce the South River ; whither Sir 
toTiur" Robert Carr was sent with the Gruinea, the William and 
^ou IV- ]\jjg]^Qjg^g^ ^j^jj iiQ^y ^]^g soldiers which are not in the fort." 
To the Dutch he was instructed to promise all their privi- 
leges, "only that they change their masters." To the 
Swedes he was to "remonstrate their happy return under 
a monarchical government." To Lord Baltimore's officers 
in Maryland he was to say, that their pretended rights be- 
ing "a doubtful case," possession would be kept until his 

3 Sept . majesty "is informed and satisfied otherwise." A tedious 

Rodu*(-'t"um ■ voyage brought the expedition before New Amstel. The 
^t^. burghers and planters, "after almost three days' parley," 
agreed to Carr's demands, and Ffob Oothout, with five 
others, signed articles of capitulation which promised large 
privileges. But the governor and soldiery refusing the En- 
glish propositions, the fort was stormed and plundered, 
three of the Dutch being killed and ten wounded. In vio- 
lation of his promises, Carr now exhibited the most dis- 
' graceful rapacity ; appropriated farms to himself, his broth- 

er, and Captains Hyde and Morley ; stripped bare the in- 
habitants, and sent the Dutch soldiers to be "sold as 
rue colony slaves in Virginia," To complete the work, a boat was 
fciii." "'^'' dispatched to the city's colony at the Horekill, which 

♦ Ocneral Entries, i., 35-43 ; Lond. Doc, i., 188 ; ii., 84 ; N. Y. Col. MSS., iii., 07, 149 ; 
Ronss. MSS. ; Smith, i., 33 ; mile, p. 81. Captain Daniel Brodhead, one ol'the witnesses 
to this treaty, was a native of Yorkshire, in England, and accompanied NicoUs' expedi- 
tion to America, liciforc; he N^ft England, he was married lo Ann Tyc, by whom he had 
three sons, Daniel, Charles, ami Richard. On the 14th of September, lOfiS, Caplam Brod- 
head was appointed by (;ov<Ttior NiroUs to command the soldiers at Esopus, where he 
rcmaine<l until hi.s death in 1070.— Palenus, i., 159, 167, 172. 



RICHARD NICOI.LS, GOVERNOR. 745 

was seized and plundered of all its effects, and the ma- chap. xx. 
rauding party even took "what belonged to the Quaking 
Society of Plockhoy, to a very naile." 

The reduction of New Netherland was now accom- 
plished. All that could be further done was to change its 
name ; and, to glorify one of the most bigoted princes in 
English history, the royal province was ordered to be called 
" New York." Ignorant of James' grant of New Jersey to New York. 
Berkeley and Carteret, Nicolls gave to the region west of 
the Hudson the name of "Albania," and to Long Island Albania 

and York- 

that of "Yorkshire," so as "to comprehend all the titles" shire. 
of the Duke of York, The flag of England was at length 
triumphantly displayed, where, for half a century, that of 
Holland had rightfully waved ; and, from Virginia to Can- 
ada, the King of Grreat Britain wfls acknowledged as sov- 
ereign. Viewed in all its aspects, the event which gave 
to the whole of that country a unity in allegiance, and to 
which a misgoverned people complacently submitted, was 
as inevitable as it was momentous. But, whatever may 
have been its ultimate consequences, this treacherous and 
violent seizure of the territory and possessions of an unsus- 
pecting ally was no less a breach of private justice than 
of public faith. It may, indeed, be affirmed that, among 
all the acts of selfish perfidy which royal ingratitude con- 
ceived and executed, there have been few more character- 
istic, and none more base.* 

So passed away the Dutch dominion in North America. 
Step by step, we have traced the circumstances of the dis- 
covery and occupation of the Batavian province ; the in- 
troduction of the religion, jurisprudence, and customs of 
the Fatherland ; the establishment of its system of town- 
ships and municipal governments ; the transfer of local 
names in the Old World, which the colonists of the New 
always remembei*ed with affection; the intermingling of 
various creeds and races ; the growth of foreign connnerce; 

* General Entries, i., 58, 59 ; IIol. Doc, xi., 230, 231 ; Lond. Doc, i , 196-206 ; ii., 1, 23, 
61,9.t; iv., 178-180; N. Y. Col. MSS., iii., 70-74, 83, 92, 105, 115, 345, 346 ; O'Call,, ii,, 
537, 538, .W3, 594 ; H. F. Butler, iii ii., N. Y. II. S. Coll., ii., 27 ; ante, p. 701, 736. 



746 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XX. and the development of principles of civil liberty under try- 
insf and adverse circumstances. We have noticed the ori- 
gin of the feudal relation of patroons and colonists or ten- 
ants, and the predominance of the better class of independ- 
ent freeholders. We have seen the aboriginal red man 
made a friend and an enemy ; and we have observed the 
progress of foreign encroachment ending in the supremacy 
of foreign power. 

It has been remarked that the system of political ad- 
ministration, which at first oppressed New Netherland, dif- 
fered widely from that which the Dutch colonists enjoyed 
in the country of their birth. The province had been un- 
wisely intrusted to the government of a close commercial 
corporation, than which no government can be less favor- 
able to popular liberty, tin its scheme of political admin- 
istration, the West India Company exhibited too often a 
mercantile and selfish spirit ; and, in encouraging com- 
merce in negro slaves, it established an institution which 
subsisted many generations after its authority had ceased. 
Its provincial agents, burdened at length with the added 
care of Curaqoa, generally displayed more devotion to the 
interests of the directors in Holland than to those of the 
community over which they were placed. Nevertheless, 
the popular voice, coming far across the sea, was heard and 
respected in the palace at the Hague ; and the grievances 
of the earnest remonstrants were, from time to time, abated 
by the interference of the States General. Against all the 
withering influences under which they laid the broad foun- 
dations of a mighty state, the colonists of New Netherland 
steadily achieved their own purposes, and, by degrees, won 
for themselves the franchises of their brethren who remain- 
ed at home. In the end, happier principles of government 
prevailed ; and the unnatural spirit of bigotry and persecu- 
tion, which for a time blemished the administration of the 
province, yielded to the maxims of toleration and magna- 
nimity which distinguished the people of the Netherlands. 
Enjoying an admirable geographical position, New York 
possesses annals not surpassed by those of any other state 



CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE OF ITS FOUNDERS. 747 

in the American Union in topics of varied character, ro- chap. xx. 
mantic incident, and instructive lesson. Nor does her ear- 
ly history relate alone to those confines which now limit 
her territory. New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Con- 
necticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts, either wholly 
or in part, were comprehended within her original bound- 
aries, and they all partake, to a greater or less degree, in 
the interest of her peculiar story. 

The pioneers of New York left their impress deep upon 
the state. Far-reaching commerce, which had made Old 
Amsterdam the Tyre of the seventeenth century, early pro- 
voked the envy of the colonial neighbors of New Amster- 
dam, and, in the end, made her the emporium of the West- 
ern World. Longer lines of barges than those which once 
crowded the Batavian canals are now drawn, from the 
great lakes to the ocean, through those magnificent chan- 
nels which the experience of Holland suggested, and the 
enterprise of her children helped to construct. Buildings, 
as solid and as quaint as those which grace the "Heeren- 
Gracht," stood as monuments of the olden time, until ne- 
cessity, the desire of gain, or a distaste for what is venera- 
ble, doomed them to destruction. Cherished holidays yet 
recall the memory of the genial anniversaries of the Fa- 
therland ; and year by year the people are invited to ren- 
der thanks to their Grod, as their forefathers were invited, 
long before Manhattan was known, and while New En- 
gland was yet a desert. Those forefathers humbly wor- 
shiped the King of kings, while they fearlessly rejected 
the kings of men. The children of such ancestors were 
well fitted to act an important part in the great work of 
opening the continent of America to the civilization of Eu- 
rope, They added no ignoble ingredient to the Union's 
blended masses. 

The emigrants who first explored the coasts and reclaim- 
ed the soil of New Netherland, and bore the flag of Hol- 
land to the wigwams of the Iroquois, were generally bluft", 
plain-spoken, earnest, yet unpresumptuous men, who spon- 
taneously left their native land to better their condition, 



748 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XX. and bind another province to the United Netherlands. They 
brous'ht over with them the liberal ideas, and honest max- 
ims, and homely virtues of their country. They introduced 
their church and their schools, their Domines and their 
schoolmasters. They carried along with them their huge 
clasped Bibles, and left them heir-looms in their families. 
They gave the names which they had loved in their Low- 
land homes to the new abodes which they chose among 
the red men of the forest. They came with no loud-sound- 
ing pretensions to grandeur in purpose, eminence in holi- 
ness, or superiority in character. They were more accus- 
tomed to do than to boast ; nor have their descendants 
been ambitious to invite and appropriate excessive praise 
for the services their ancestors rendered in extending the 
limits of Christendom, and in stamping upon America its 
distinguishing features of freedom in religion and liberal- 
ity in political faith. Born in a land where the first les- 
sons of childhood were lessons of self-reliance and unceas- 
ing toil, they brought into the wilderness their hereditary 
habits of industry and thrift, that they might win and en- 
joy the rewards of active labor. ^Benevolent and social, 
they desired to see all around them happy ; the enfran- 
chised African might, and did obtain a freehold ; while the 
negro who remained under an institution of patriarchal 
simplicity, scarcely knowing he was in bondage, danced 
merrily as the best, in "kermis," at Christmas and Pinck- 
ster. Husbandmen and traders they chiefly were. Yet 
men of science and acquirement were not wanting among 
the fathers of New York. Van der Donck, Megapolensis, 
and De Vries published valuable materials for our early 
history ; while the correspondence of Stuyvesant, Beeck- 
man, and Van Rensselaer sufficiently attests their scholar- 
ship and capacity. The clergymen of the province were 
all men of thorough education ; Van Dincklagen, Van 
Schelluyne, and De Sille were learned in the law ; La 
Montague, Staats, Kierstede, Van Imbroeck, Du Parck, 
Curtius, and Megapolensis were eminent as physicians and 
surgeons. In the annals of no other state are there names 



CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE OF ITS FOUNDERS. 749 

more patriotic and honorable than those of Kuyter, Melyn, chap. xx. 
and Van Curler. 

Although Hollanders formed the chief element in the 
population of New Netherland, a happy intermixture of 
other races contributed to insure the prosperity of the state. 
Venerating the liberal example of their ancestral land, the 
first occupants of the province looked upon commerce as 
the solvent of national antipathies ; and, without requir- 
ing uniformity in doctrine, or a homogeneous lineage, they 
made the hearth-stone the test of citizenship, and demand- 
ed residence and loyalty as the only obligations of their 
multifarious associates. Thus Walloons, Waldenses, Hu- 
guenots, Swedes, Roman Catholics, German Lutherans, 
Anabaptists, and English (Quakers all planted themselves 
beside the natives of Holland. The Dutch province always 
had both popular freedom and public spirit enough to at- 
tract within its borders voluntary immigrants from the 
neighboring British colonies. If the Fatherland gave an 
asylum to self-exiled Puritans of England, Tsew Nether- 
land as liberally sheltered refugees from the intolerant gov- 
ernments on her eastern frontier. And in the cordial wel- 
come which her earliest burghers gave to all who sought 
permanent homes among them, may be traced the origin 
of that large and comprehensive spirit which has made the 
island of Manhattan the attractive metropolis of the Co- 
lumbian World. 

Much of what has been written of American history has 
been written by those who, from habit or prejudice, have 
been inclined to magnify the influence and extol the merit 
of the Anglo-Saxon race, at the expense of every other ele- 
ment which has assisted to form the national greatness. 
In no particular has this been more remarkable than in 
the unjust view which has so often been taken of the found- 
ers of New York. Holland has long been a theme for the 
ridicule of British writers ; and, even in this country, the 
character and manners of the Dutch have been made the 
subjects of an unworthy depreciation, caused perhaps, in 
some instances, by too ready an imitation of those provin- 



750 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Chap. XX. cial chroiiiclers who could see little good in their "noxious 

~~~7T~~ neis^hbors" of New Netherland. 

Yet, wfthout undervaluing others, it may confidently be 
claimed that to no nation in the world is the Republic of 
the West more indebted than to the United Provinces, for 
the idea of the confederation of sovereign states ; for noble 
principles of constitutional freedom ; for magnanimous sen- 
timents of religious toleration ; for characteristic sympathy 
with the subjects of oppression ; for liberal doctrines in 
trade and commerce ; for illustrious patterns of private in- 
tegrity and public virtue ; and for generous and timely aid 
in the establishment of independence. Nowhere among 
the people of the United States can men be found excel- 
ling in honesty, industry, courtesy, or accomplishment the 
posterity of the early Dutch settlers in New Netherland. 
And, when the providence of God decreed that the rights 
of humanity were again to be maintained through long 
years of endurance and of war, the descendants of Hol- 
landers nobly emulated the example of their forefathers ; 
nor was their steadfast patriotism outdone by that of any 
of the heroes in the strife which made the blood-stained 
soil of New York and New Jersey the Netherlands of 
America. 



APPENDIX. 



Note A, Chapter I., page 31-35. 
The following account oftlie first arrival of Europeans in New York is taken from a manuscript 
communicated by the Reverend John Ileckewelder to the Reverend Doctor Miller, in 1801, and by 
him deposited in the library of the New York Historical Society. Mr. Heckewelder was a Moravian 
missionary among the Pennsylvania Indians ; and he states that his account " is verbatim as it was 
related to me by aged and respected Delawares, Monseys, and Mahicanni (otherwise called Mohe- 
gans, Mahicanders) near forty years ago," or about 1760. "A long time ago, when there was no 
such thing known to the Indians as people with a ivhite skin (their expression), some Indians who 
had been out a fishing, and where the sea widens, espied at a great distance something remarkably 
large swimming or floating on the water, and such as they had never seen before. They immediately, 
returning to the shore, apprised their countrymen of what they had seen, and pressed them to go out 
with them and discover what it might be. These together hurried out, and saw, to their great sur- 
prise, the phenomenon, but could not agree what it might be ; some concluding it either to be an 
uncommon large fish or other animal, while others were of opinion it must be some very large 
house. It was at length agreed among those who were spectators that, as this phenomenon moved 
toward the land, whether or not it was an animal, or any thing that had life in it, it would be well 
to inform all the Indians on the inhabited islands of what they had seen, and put them on their 
guard. Accordingly, they sent runners and watermen off to carry the news to their scattered chiefs, 
that these might send offin every direction for the warriors to come in. These arriving in numbers, 
and themselves viewing the strange appearance, and that it was actually moving toward them (the 
entrance of the river or bay), concluded it to be a large canoe or house, in which the great Manitto 
(Great or Supreme Being) himself was, and that he probably was coming to visit them. By this 
time the chiefs of the different tribes were assembled on York Island, and were counseling or deliber- 
ating on the manner they should receive their Manitto on his arrival. Every step had been taken 
to be well provided with a plenty of meat for a sacrifice ; the women were accosted to prept^re the 
best of victuals ; idols or images were examined and put in order ; and a grand dance was supposed 
not only to be an agreeable entertainment for the Manitto, but it might, with the addition of a sacri- 
fice, contribute toward appeasing him, in case he was angry with them. The conjurors were also 
set to work to determine what the meaning of this phenomenon was, and what the result would be. 
Both to these, and to the chiefs and wise men of the nation, men, women, and children were look- 
ing up for advice and protection. Between hope and fear, and in confusion, a dance commenced. 
While in this situation, fresh runners arrive, declaring it to be a house of various colors, and 
crowded with living creatures. It now appears to be certain that it is the great Manitto, bringing 
them some kind of game such as they had not before. But other runners soon after arriving, de- 
clare it a large house of various colors, full of people, yet of quite a different color than they (the 
Indians) are of; that they were also dres.sed in a different manner from them ; and that one, in par- 
ticular, appeared altogether red, which must be the Manitto himself. They are soon hailed from 
the vessel, though in a language they do not understand, yet they shout (or yell) in their way. 
Many are for running off to the woods, but are pressed by others to stay, in order not to give offense 
to their visitor, who could find them out, and might destroy them. The house (or large canoe, as 
some will have it) stops, and a smaller canoe comes ashore with the red man and some others in it. 
Some stay by this canoe to guard it. The chiefs and wise men (or counselors) had composed a 
large circle into which the red-clothed man with two others approach. He salutes them with friend- 
ly countenance, and they return the salute after their manner. They are lost in admiration both a.* 
to the color of the skin of these whites, as also to their manner of dress ; yet most as to the habit 
of him who wore the red clothes, which shone with something [lace ?] they could not account for. 
He must be the great Manitto (Supreme Being), they think ; but why should he have a white skin 1 
A large, elegant hock hack (a gourd or decanter) is brought forward by one of the supposed Manit- 
to's servants, and from this a substance is poured out into a small cup or glass, and handed to the 



752 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

Manitto. The (expected) Manitto drinks, has the glass filled again, and hands it to the chief next to 
him to drink. The chief receives the glass, but only smells at it, and passes it on to the next chief, 
who does the same. The glass thus passes through the circle without the contents being tasted by 
any one ; and is on the point of being returned again to the red-clothed man, when one of their num- 
ber, a spirited man and great warrior, jumps up, harangues the assembly on the improjjriety of re- 
turning the glass with the contents in it ; that the same was handed them by the Manitto in order 
that they should drink it, as he himself had done before them ; that this would please him ; but to 
return what he had given to them might provoke him, and be the cause of their being destroyed by 
him. And that since he believed it for the good of the nation that the contents offered them should 
be drank, and as no one was willing to drink it, he would, let the consequence be what it would; 
and that it was better for one man to die than for a whole nation to be destroyed. He then took the 
glass, and, bidding the assembly a farewell, drank it off". Every eye was tixcd on their resolute com- 
panion, to see what an effect this would have upon him ; and he soon beginning to stagger about, and 
at last dropping to the ground, they bemoan him. He falls into a sleep, and they view him as expir- 
ing. He awakes again, jumps up, and declares that he never before felt himself so happy as after he 
had drank the cup. He wishes for more. His wish is granted ; and the whole assembly soon join 
him, and become intoxicated. After this general intoxication had ceased {during which time the 
whites had confined themselves to their vessel), the man with the red clothes returned again to them, 
and distributed presents among them, to wit, beads, axes, hoes, stockings, etc. They sa\ that they 
had become familiar to each other, and were made to understand by signs that they now would return 
home, but would visit them next year again, when they would bring them more presents, and stay 
with them awhile ; but that, as they could not live without eating, they should then want a little land 
of them, to sow some seeds, in order to raise herbs to put in their broth." — Heckewelder, in ii., N. Y. 
H. S. Coll., i., 71-73 ; and in Moulton, 252-254. Thus Indian tradition confirms and amplifies the 
authentic accounts of the revel on board the Half Moon as she was exploring the Hudson River. The 
tradition, however, while it preserves and embellishes the main fact, erroneously fixes the scene of 
the event at Manhattan Island. Mr. Heckewelder adds, that the Delawares derive the name of the 
island from the "general intoxication" which, according to their tradition, occurred there. But the 
Albany Records (xviii., 348) authoritatively declare that it was so called " after the ancient name of 
the tribe of savages among whom the Dutqh first settled themselves." Besides, it appears very clear- 
ly from Juel's journal of Hudson's voyage, that the scene of the revelry was in the cabin of the Half 
Moon, while she was at anchor near Albany. See also Schoolcraft, in N. Y. H. S. Proc, 1844, Ap- 
pendix, 90, and North American Review, ix., 163-165. 



Note B, Chapter I., page 36. 

"The country of which we propose to speak was first discovered, in the year of our Lord 1609, by 
the ship Half Moon, of which Henry Hudson was master and supercargo, at the expense of the char- 
tered East India Company, though in search of a different object [a northwest passage to China]. It 
was subsequently called New Netherland by our people, and very justly, as it was fir.st discovered 
and possessed by Nethcrlandcrs, and at their cost ; so that even at the present day, those natives of 
the country who are so old as to recollect when the Dutch ships first came here, declare that when 
they saw them they did not know what to make of them, and could not comprehend whether they 
came down from heaven or were of the devil. Some of them, when the first one arrived, even imag- 
ined it to be a fish, or some monster of the sea, and accordingly a strange report of it spread over the 
whole land. We have also heard the Indians frequently say that they knew nothing of any other 
part of the world, or any other people than their own, before the arrival of the Netherlanders. For 
these reascms, therefore, and on account of the similarity of climate, situation, and fertility, this place 
is rightly called New Netherland."— Holland Documents, volume iv., page 71 ; Van der Donck's" Ver- 
toogh van Nieuw Nedcrlaiult," translated by Mr. Murphy, in ii., N. Y. H. S. Coll., ii., 261, 262 ; ante, 
p. 512. 

" That this country was first discovered by the Netherlanders is evident and clear from the fact 
that the Indians or natives of the land, many of whom are still living, and with whom I have con- 
versed, declare freely that they are old enough to remember distinctly that before the arrival of our 
Netherland's ship the Half Moon, in the year 1609. they, the natives, did not know that there were 
any other people in the world than thos(> who were like their neighbors round about them, much less 
any people who differed from them so much in race and fashion as we did. Their men were bare on 
the breast and about tt e mouth, and their women, like ours, very hairy ; they were unclothed, and al- 
most naked, especially in summer, and we were all the time clad and covered. When some of them 
first saw our ship approaching afar off, they did not know what to think about her, but stood in deep 



APPENDIX. 753 

and solemn amazement, wondering whether it was a spook or apparition, and whether it came from 
heaven or from hell. Others of them supposed that it might be a strange fish or sea monster. They 
supposed these on hoard to be rather devils than human beings. Thus they differed among each 
other in opinion. A strange report soon spread through their country about our visit, and created 
great talk and comment among all the Indians. This we have heard several Indians testify ; which 
we hold to be a certain proof that the Dutch were the first discoverers and settlers of New Nether- 
land. For there are Indians in the country who remember over one hundred years ; and so, if there 
had been any other people there before us, they would have known something of them ; and if they 
had not seen them themselves, they would at least have heard of them from their forefathers." — Van 
der Donck's Description of New Netherland, page 3, the first edition of which was published at Am- 
sterdam in 1655 ; ante, p. 561, note. An imperfect translation is in ii., N. Y. H. S. Coll., i., 137. 



Note C, Chapter II., page 44. 

Heckewelder, in continuing his traditionary account, as given in note A, says : " The vessel ar- 
rived the season following [1610], and they were much rejoiced at seeing each other. But the whites 
laughed at them (the natives), seeing they knew not the use of the axes, hoes, &c., they had given 
them, they having had these hanging to their breasts as ornaments, and the stockings they had made 
use of as tobacco pouches. The whites now put handles or helves in the former, and cut trees down 
before their eyes, and dug the ground, and showed them the use of the stockings. Here, they say, a 
general laughter ensued among the Indians, that they had remained for so long a time ignorant of the 
use of so valuable implements, and had borne with the weight of such heavy metal hanging to their 
necks for such a length of time. They took every white man they saw for a Manitto, yet inferior and 
attendant to the supreme ^lanitto, to wit, to the one which wore the red and laced clothes." 

" Familiarity daily increasing between them and the whites, the latter now proposed to stay with 
them, asking them only for so much land as the hide of a bullock would cover or encompass, which 
hide was brought forward and spread on the ground before them. That they readily granted this 
request ; whereupon the whites took a knife, and, beginning at one place on this hide, cut it up into 
a rope not thicker than the finger of a little child, so that by the time this hide was cut up, there was 
a great heap. That this rope was drawn out to a great distance, and then brought round again, so 
that both ends might meet. That they carefully avoided its breaking, and that upon the whole it 
encompassed a large piece of ground. That they (the Indians) were surprised at the superior wit 
of the whites, but did not wish to contend with them about a little land, as they had enough. That 
they and the whites lived for a long time contentedly together ; although these asked, from time to 
time, more land of them ; and, proceeding higher up the Mahicanittuk [the place of the Mahicans, or 
the Hudson River], they believed they would soon want all their country."— Heckewelder, in ii., N. 
y. H. S. Coll., i., 73, 74 ; Moulton, 254, 255. Mr. Heckewelder adds, with reference to this part of 
the tradition, that the Dutch turned their classical knowledge of Queen Dido to a profitable account ; 
and the legend of the Delawarcs has furnished material for much mirthful remark. It appears, how- 
ever, from the Holland Documents, i., 155, that, in the summer of 1626, Director Peter Minuit pur- 
chased the whole of Manhattan Island from its aboriginal owners for si.\ty guilders, or about twen- 
ty-four dollars of our present currency. -t^See ante, page 164. 



Note D, Chapter II., page 51 ; Chapter VIII., page 227. 
Almost every writer on American history that I have met with appears to have taken pains to per- 
petuate the stereotype error that "Lord Delawarr touched at this bay in his passage to Virginia in 
1610." The earliest authority who seems to affirm this theory is Sir John Harvey, the governor of 
Virginia, who told De Vries, in 1633, that Lord Delawarr, " several years before," had been driven 
in there by foul weather, and had found it innavigable by reason of its being " full of banks."— jlnie, 
page 227. But Harvey does not mention the particular year ; and very probably he confounded Del- 
awarr with Hudson, whose mate's journal, prmted by Purchas in 1625, states it to be " full of 
shoals." On the other hand, Lord Delawarr himself, in his letter of the 7th of July, 1610, giving an 
account of his voyage to Virginia, not only makes no mention of that bay, or of his approaching it, 
but expressly speaks of his first reaching the American coast on "the 6th of June, at what time we 
made land to the southward of our harbor, the Chesiopiock Bay." — Mus. Brit. Har. MSS., 7009, p. 58; 
also recently published in the Introduction to Strachey's Virginia Britannia, p. xxiv. The first Eu- 
ropean who is really known to have entered the bay, after Hudson, was Captain Samuel Argall, who 
after losing Sir George Somers in a fog, on the 28th of July, 1610, while on his way to Bermuda, ran 

B B B 



754 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF iNEW YORK. 

toward Cape Cod, whence he sailed southerly, until, on the evening of the 26th of August, he found 
himself twelve leagues from the Jersey coast. " The seven-and-twentieth by day, in the morning," 
says Argall in his journal, " I was faire aboard the shore, and by nine of the clocke I came to an an- 
chor in nine fathoms, in a very great, bay, where I found great store of people, which were very kind, 
and promised me that the ne.\t day in the morning they would bring me great store of come. But, 
about nine of the clocke that night, the wind shifted from southwest to east northeast. So I weighed 
presently, and shaped my course to Cape Charles. This bay lyeth in westerly thirty leagues. And 
the southern cape of it lyeth S.S.E. and N.N.W., and in thirtie-eight degrees twentie minutes of 
northerly latitude. The eight-and-twentieth day, about four of the clocke in the afternoon, I fell 
among a great many of shoals about twelve leagues to the southward of Cape La Warr. * * * The 
one-and-thirtieth, about seven of the clocke at night, I came to an anchor under Cape Charles."' — 
Argall's Journal, in Purchas, iv., p. 17()2. Strachey, in his "Virginia Britannia," p. 43, states that 
Argall, "in the latitude of thirty-nine, discovered another good/ y bay, into which fell many tayles of 
faire and large rivers, and which might make promise of some westerly passage ; the Cape whereof, 
in thirty-eight and a half, he called Cape La Warr." This is nearly the latitude of Cape Ilinlopen. 
As Argall remained at anchor during the single day he was at the Cape, he probably derived his in- 
formation about the large rivers which emptied into the bay from the Indians who visited him. If 
Lord Delawarr had been there two months before, Argall would no doubt have so stated it. 

The name of Lord Delawarr, however, seems to have been given to the bay soon afterward by the 
Virginians. Argall, in his letter to Nicholas Ilawes, of June, 1613, in Purchas, iv., 1764, speaks of 
hoping to find " a cut out of the bottom of our bay [the Chesapeake] into the Delawarre Bay." Lord 
Delawarr then certainly did not himself enter the bay "on his passage to Virginia, in I6I0;" and it 
would seem that he never did, either on his return to England in 1611, or on his second voyage in 
1618. In "Royal and Noble Authors," ii., 180, quoted by Bancroft, i., 152, Lord Delawarr is said to 
have died at Wherwell, in Hampshire, June 7th, 1618. On the other hand, he is stated to have sailed 
a second time from England in April, 1618, in a ship of two hundred and fifty tons, for Virginia. At 
Saint Michael's he was " honorably feasted." " Departing from thence, they were long troubled with 
i-ontrary winds, in ichich time many/ell sick, thirtie died, one o/ichich ires that honorable lord o/ noble 
memory. The rest refreshed themselves on that coast of New England with fish, fowl, wood, and 
water ; and, after sixteen weeks spent at sea, arrived in Virginia." — Purchas, iv., 1774 ; Smith, ii., 34. 

Note E, Chapter II., page 54; Chapter V., page 140; Chapter XIV., page 485. 

Plantagenet's New Albion, Heylin's Cosmography, and Stith's History of Virginia, are the author- 
ities for this story of Argall's visit to Manhattan. Plantagenet, after stating Argall's expedition 
against the French at Nova Scotia, adds that, on their return, they "landed at Manhatas Isle, in 
Hudson's River, where they found four houses built, and a pretended Dutch governor under the West 
India Company of Amsterdam, share or part, who kept trading boats, and trucking with the Indians ; 
but the said knights told him their commission was to expel him and all alien intruders on his maj- 
esty's dominions and territories— this being part of Virginia, and this river an English discovery of 
Hudson, an Englishman. The Dutchman contented them for their charge and voyage, and, by his 
letter sent to Virginia and recorded, submitted himself, company, and plantation, to his majesty and 
to the governor and government of Virginia."— In ii., N. Y. II. S. Collect., i., 334, Mr. Folsom seems 
satisfied of the truth of the story ; while, in ii., N. Y. II. S. Coll., ii., 326, Mr. Murphy asserts that it 
is "a pure fiction, unsustained by any good authority — though some writers have heaped up cita- 
tions on the subject— and is as fully susceptible of disproof as any statement of that character at that 
early period can be." 

Singularly enough, the only authorities which aflirm the fact of Argall's visit to Manhattan are 
printed English works. The earliest of these— from which the extract given above is taken— is the 
'• New Albion" of" Bcauchamp Plantagenet, Esqr.," published in 1648. This imposing pseudonym 
was assumed— probably by Sir Edmund Plowdcn, who, as grantee of the Irish patent for " New Al- 
bion" in 1634, had an obvious interest adverse to the Dutch title to New Nethcrland ; ante, p. 381. 
Almost the whole of Plantagenet's work, in fact, is now generally held to be a mass of absurd and 
inconsistent errors. Heylin, in his "Cosmography," which was published in 1652, seems only to 
have adopted and embellished Plantagenet's fanciful account. Stith's History of Virginia was orig- 
inally published at Williamsburg, in 1747. This author is said by Mr. .Teffereon to have had acces.s 
to the early records of Virginia, which were burned at William.sburg. Stith also derived assistance 
from the MSS. of Sir John Randolph, and from the papers of the London Company, which were put 
Into his hands by Colonel William Byrd, the president of the council. These papers, however, as 
Stith mentions m his preface, commence with 1619. If, instead of copying Heylin, as he does nlmo«;i 



APPENDIX. 755 

word for word, Stiih had published the submission of the Dutch at Manbattan, said to have been 
" sent to Virginia and recorded," he would have settled the question. 

It is extraordinary that no English or Dutch State Paper corroborates the story. Smith, who 
speaks of Argall's foray against the French in Acadia, does not allude to his entering our harbor. 
Dermer, who came directly from Virginia to Manhattan in 1620 {ante, p. 93), does not allude to any 
previous visit of Argall, who, moreover, was not knighted until 1622. In the application made to 
King James I., in 1621, the Dutch are stated to have entered there "the year past," that is, in 1620 
(ante, p. 140). As Argall was one of the parties to this application, had he found the Dutch seated at 
Manhattan in 1613, and had he enforced their submission, he would no doubt have stated those facta 
in it. Captain John Mason, in his letter to Sir John Coke, of the 12th of April, 1632 (ante, p. 215), 
states that Argall was " preparing to go and sit down in his lot of land upon the said Manahatta 
River at the same time when the Dutch intruded, which caused a demur in their proceeding," and 
induced the Privy Council's instructions to Carleton in 1621 ; but Mason seems to avoid stating that 
Argall was ever actually at Manhattan.— N. Y. Col. MSS., iii., 17. Bradford, in his correspondence 
in 1627, though he alludes to Argall's surprise of the French settlements in 1613, says nothing about 
liis alleged visit to Manhattan (ante, p. 176). Neither does Harvey refer to the subject, in his con- 
versations in 1633 with De Vries at Jamestown, where the submission of the Dutch is said to have 
been " recorded" (ante, p. 227). The silence of all these authorities upon this point is very significant, 
and, to me, conclusive against the truth of the story. 

In fact, Dermer appears to have been the first Englishman that ever visited Manhattan (ante, p. 
94) ; and it would seem that Plantagenet manufactured his statement of Argall's visit out of Dermer's 
authentic accounts. The original authority, which other writers have followed, is thus very suspi- 
cious ; and the absence of official documentary evidence increases distrust to such a degree, that I 
can not help rejecting the whole story of Argall's proceedings at Manhattan as fabulous. 

Note F, Chapter II., page 55. 

Heylin's Cosmography, book iv., part ii., is the authority upon which Moulton, 344, and O'Calla- 
ghan, i., 77, make this statement. Heylin, however, seems merely to have taken and embellished his 
account from the fabulous " Beauchamp Plantagenet," whose worth as an authority has been con- 
sidered in note E. Bancroft, ii., 272, is very cautious in his text, but is less guarded in his note, that 
"the records prove there was no fort at Albany till 1615." Father Isaac Jogues, who was at Man- 
hattan in 1643 (ante, p. 374), says, in his letter of the 3d of August, 1646, that " the fort was begun 
in the year 1615." — Doe. Hist. N. Y., iv., 23. It would seem, however, that there was no fort or re- 
doubt on Manhattan Island until after Dermer's visit in 1620, or, perhaps, until after Director Min- 
uit's arrival in 1626. If there had been, Dermer would no doubt have stated the fact, which he does 
not. Neither De Laet nor Wassenaar, who speak of a fort up the river, say any thing about a fort 
or redoubt on Manhattan until 1626. — Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii., 27, 35, 42. There is no fort marked there 
upon the " Figurative Map" of 1614, which gives the dimensions of Fort Nassau on Castle Island ; 
nor upon the paper map of 1616. — See notes G and I. Stuyvesant, in his letter to the government of 
Massachusetts, of the 20th of April, 1660 (Alb. Rec, xxiv., 167; ante, p. 673), while speaking of the 
building of the fort (Nassau) on Castle Island in 1614 (erroneously stated to have been in 1615), says 
nothing of any other fortification until after the West India Company took possession of New Neth- 
erland in 1623. In his letter to Colonel NicoUs, of the 2d of September, 1664 (Smith's New York, i., 
22 ; ante, p. 740), he speaks only of " a little fort," which the Dutch built " up the North River, near 
Fort Orange." 

On the other hand, in a memorial of the West India Company to the States General, on the 25th of 
(October, 1634 (Hoi. Doc, ii., 138), it is affirmed that, "before the year 1614, one or two small forts 
were built" on the North or Mauritius River. In another official report of the company, on the 15th 
of December, 1644 (Hoi. Doc, ii., 368), it is stated that, be/ore the 11th of October, 1614, "two small 
forts were thrown up there, on the South and North Rivers, against the roaming Indians." Both of 
these statements are careless, vague, and contradictory. The first does not mention that either of 
the " one or two" forts on the North River was at Manhattan ; the second refers the position of one 
of them to the South River. That river, however, was not explored by the Dutch until 1616; and 
there does not appear to have been any fort there until 1623. 

Note G, Chapter II., pages 59, 60; Chapter III., page 73. 
A fac-simile of this parchment map, which I found in the archives at the Hague in 1841, is in the 
Secretary of State's office at Albany. It is the most ancient map extant of the State of New York, 



756 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

and the neighboring territory to the north and east, and is probably the one to which De Laet (iii., 
cap. viii.) refers as the " chart of this quarter, made some years since." The sea-coasts between 
Sandy Hook and Penobscot are exhibited with great care and detail ; and the portion north and east 
of Cape Cod will compare very favorably, in point of accuracy, with Smith's Map of New England, 
first published in 1616. Plymouth harbor is described by Block as " Crane Bay," and Boston har- 
bor as " Fox Haven." Salem Bay, north of Marblehead, is laid down as " Count Hendrick's Bay." 
Westward of the " Vlacke Hoeck*' or Cape Malebarre, the coast is delineated as explored by Block, 
and afterward described by De Laet. Nantucket is called " Vlieland," and Martha's Vineyard " Tex- 
el," between which and the main-land lies the " Zuyder Zee." South of the Texel is "Hendrick 
Christiaensen'a Island," now called "No Man's Land." The western entrance to Narragansett Bay 
is marked as " Sloup Bay," and Point Judith as the " Wapanoos Point." To the southward are " Ad- 
riaen Block's Island"' and the " Visscher's Hook," or Montauk Point, the eastern e.xtremity of Long 
Island. The coasts and rivers of Connecticut are delineated with comparative accuracy. Manhat- 
tan is represented as an island without any fort ; but at the upper part of the "River of the Prince 
Maurice" Fort Nassau is described and marked as upon an island. According to the reports of the 
Maquaas or Mohawks, the French are represented as coming with shallops to the upper part of their 
country " to trade with them." With regard to the parts south of" Sand Point" or Sandy Hook, and 
the " Round Hills" or Highlands of Nevesinck, the map is very imperfect. The Delaware is repre- 
sented as a small river running due west into the land, at latitude 39° 30'; and neither Cape May nor 
Cape Hinlopen are named. That river was, in fact, first explored in 1616, by Cornells Hendricksen, 
who seems to have presented to the States General, the same year, another map, which is considered 
In note I. At latitude 37°, " Cape Charles" and " Cape Henry" are laid down on the parchment map 
as defining " the Inlet of Chesapeake ;" and " New Netherland" is represented as extending from Vir- 
ginia to the Penobscot, east of which lies " a part of New France." 

The original parchment map, which is executed in a very beautiful style of art, was found in the 
archives at the Hague, anne.xed to a memorial to the States General by the " Directors of New Neth- 
erland," on the 18th of August, 1616. I think, however, that it was actually prepared two years be- 
fore, from the data furnished by Block immediately after his return to Holland, and that it was exhib- 
ited to their High Mightinesses /or the Jirst time on the 11th of October, 1614. The cliarter granted 
on that day to the directors of New Netherland expressly refers to a " Figurative map prepared (ge- 
transfigeert) by them," ivhich described the sea-coasts between the fortieth and the forty-fifth degrees 
of latitude. This the parchment map clearly does. It, moreover, defines New Netherland as lying 
between New France and Virginia, according to the description in the charter. The map was prob- 
ably presented a second time on the 18th of August, 1616, when the directors of New Netherland ex- 
hibited their memorial for a further charter, to which it was found attached ; see note I. 



Note H, Chapter III., page 76 ; Chapter XX., page 710. 
According to Holland Document, xi., 86, the States General, on the 7th of February, 1665, declared 
that, "for more than fifty years," the Dutch had "had possession of Forts Orange and Esopus." 
From this it would seem that there was a Dutch fort at Esopus as early as 1614. Moulton, p. 347, re- 
marks that, about 1617, some Hollanders are said to have " settled among the Esopus Indians." De 
Vries, however, who sailed up the river in 1640, was at Esopus twice, but he does not speak of any 
Dutch settlers, or of any Dutch fort having been there, which he would scarcely have omitted to state 
if the fact hnd been so (ante, p. 302, 306). No fort or settlement is represented there in Visscher's 
map of 1655, or Van der Donck's of 1656. In fact, no Europeans seem to have been settled at " At- 
karkarton," or Esopus, until 1652 ; and it was not until 1658 that a village was palisaded and a bridge 
thrown over the Esopus Creek, at what is now Kingston (ante, p. 536, 649). The village was incor- 
porated and named " Wiltwyck" or Wildwyck in 1661 ; and soon afterward a " Ronduit" or Redoubt 
was built upon the bank of another creek a few miles off, near its confluence with the river (ante, p. 
690, 710; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iv., 41, 45, 60, 74, 87). This creek, which is now known as the "Ron- 
dout," was originally called the " Esopus Kill." Upon Visscher's and Van der Donck's maps it is 
represented as the " Great Esopus River," communicating with the upper waters of the Delaware, 
and emptying into the North River by two mouths, the southernmost at Rondout, and the northern- 
most at Saugerties. This error would scarcely have occurred had that part of the country been then 
occupied by Dutch inhabitants. What is now called the " Esopus Creek" was formerly known as the 
" Sager's Kill" (ante, p. 714 ; Doe. Hist. N. Y., iv.,48, 77, 81). It runs southeasterly from near Pine 
Ilill, on the border of Delaware county, toward Marbletown in Ulster county, where it bends to the 
north, and, flowing past Kingston (at which point it approaches the Rondout within about three miles) 
through a picturesque valley, empties into the river at Saugerties. One of the branches of the Ron- 



APPENDIX. 757 

dout (which, above where it receives the Wallkill, is eometimes called the Rosendale) rises near the 
border of Sullivan county, whence it runs northeasterly, through Ulster county, to the North River. 
The Bashes' Kill, one of the tributaries of the Nevesinck River, rises near the same point, and flows 
southwesterly toward Port Jervis. The ancient Indian trail from the Minnisincks followed the 
course of these two streams ; and, in selecting the route of the Delaware and Hudson Canal, the 
white man's science but availed itself of the red man's sagacity. 

Note I, Chapter III., pages 73, 78, and 80. 

Besides the map on parchment, mentioned in note G, I found in the archives at the Hague a map 
on paper, a fac simile of which is also deposited in the office of the Secretary of State. For various 
reasons, some of which are given in N. Y. H. S. Proceedings for 1845, 182-192, 1 think that this pa- 
per map was first presented to the States General when Captain Hendricksen appeared before them, 
on the 18th and 19th of August, 1616, to solicit a new grant of trading privileges for his employers, 
the " directors of New Netherland." The map is about three feet long and one foot vvide. It com- 
prehends the sea-coast from the southern point of the Delaware Bay (neither of the capes of which 
are named), at latitude thirty-eight degrees, to the coast of Long Island, in latitude 40° 35'. "Eyer 
Haven," or Egg Harbor, is distinctly marked, and " Sand Hoeck" is laid down as in 40° 30' ; its act- 
ual latitude being now ascertained to be 40° 28'. Within Sandy Hook the shores of New Jersey are 
represented as inhabited by the " Aquamachukes." North of these, about Newark Bay, are the " San- 
gicans," east of which, about Bergen Point and Jersey City, are the " Mechkentiwoom." Above the 
" Manhattes" (where there is no indication of a fort) are the " Wikagyl" tribe, opposite to which, on 
the west side, are the " Tappans." The country inland, to the northwest, is represented as "een ef- 
fen velt," or a level field. Then comes a " rack" or reach in the river, marked " Haverstro," or Oat 
Straw, north of which is the " Seyl- maker's Rack." The bend at Caldwell's is marked as the 
" Cock's Rack," and that at West Point as the " Hoogh Rack." Next above is the " Vosse Rack,'' 
which extends to " Klinkersberg," or Butter Hill, the northernmost of the Highlands, on the west 
side of the river, opposite PoUepel's Island. Then follows the " Visscher's Rack," and on the east 
side of the river, about Fishkill, is marked the tribe of" Pachami." Above what is now Hyde Park, 
an island is laid down in the middle of the river, answering to the present " Esopus Island." On the 
west side of the river, about the present counties of Ulster and Orange, is the tribe of" Waronawan- 
ka," and on the opposite shore of Dutchess, which is marked " Esopus," that of the " Woranecks." 
Beyond Upper Red Hook is the " Backer Rack," and near Catskill "Jan Plesier's Rack." The flats 
and shallows in the river are distinctly marked. About Hudson is the " Klaver Rack" or Clover 
Reach, north of which is the " Ooster Hook." Then follow the " Hinne Hook," the " Herten Rack," 
and " Kinder Hook," or Children's Hook. The river above appears full of small islands as far as the 
" Steur Hook," or Sturgeon Hook, about Van Wies" Point. North of this is an island, marked " Nas- 
sou," meaning Fort Nassau, on Castle Island. The names of these reaches and points on the river 
seem to have been given after the building of Fort Nassau in 1614, as none of them are marked upon 
the parchment map. On the east side of the river are the " Mahicans ;" inland on the west side, and 
on the banks of the Mohawk River, are the wigwams of the "Maquaas." South of the Maquaas are 
the " Canoomakers," represented as inhabiting the shores of a " Versch Water" or lake, from which 
a river appears to flow southerly, until it empties into the Delaware Bay, near its southern cape. Along 
the banks of this river are represented the several tribes of Senecas, Gachoos, Capitannasses, Jotte- 
cas, and Minquas. Upon the map is a memorandum to the following eflfect : " Of what Kleyntie8 
and his comrades have communicated to me respecting the locality of the rivers and the places of the 
tribes which they found in their expedition from the Maquaas into the interior, and along the New 
River downward to the Ogehage (to wit, the enemies of the aforesaid Northern tribes), I can not at 
present find any thing at hand, except two rough drafts of maps relating thereto, accurately drawn 
in parts. And in deliberating how I can best reconcile this one with the rough drafts of the inform- 
ations, I find that the places of the tribes of Senecas, Gachoos, Capitinasses, and Jottecas should be 
marked down considerably further west into the country." The Delaware River appears to have 
been explored as far north as the Schuylkill, which is represented as flowing in from the west. On 
the Jersey shore, above the mouth of the river, is the " Sauwanew" tribe ; above, and on both sides 
of the river, are the " Stankekans ;" and inland, north of the Schuylkill, are the "Minquas." 

Upon a comparison of this map with De Laet's description of the reaches of the North River, in 
chapter ix., there appears to be a remarkable harmony between them. De Laet's is a little more de- 
tailed respecting the upper part of the river ; but I think that— besides the parchment map— he must 
have had this or one taken from it before him when he wrote, as he follows its error in representing 
Esopus on the east side, among the AVaoranacks. The portion inland from Fort Nassau is of course 



758 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

represented very inaccurately. Who was the author of the memorandum quoted above (which is 
written in the court hand of the time), and who " Kleynties and his comrades" were, there are no 
present means of ascertaining. Probably, however, the latter were the three traders of the company, 
who are stated, in Hoi. Doc, i., 61, to have left their employment among the Mohawks and Mahicans 
at Fort Nassau, and set out thence on an " expedition into the interior, and along the New River, 
downward to the Ogehage," or the Minquas, by whom they were taken prisoners. These three per- 
sons, Ilendricksen states in his report, he ransomed from the Minquas, " giving for them kettles, 
beads, and merchandise." 

It seems to me that this paper map was meant to illustrate Hendricksen's exploration of the South 
or " New River," from its mouth up to the Minquas' country, where he ransomed the three captive 
servants of the company, of whom he speaks. When found in the archives at the Hague, the map had 
upon it no mark by which its date could be ascertained. A part of the upper corner was torn off. 
Appended to the memorial, which Hendricksen presented on the 18th of August, 1616, was found the 
parchment map, which, as explained in note G, was probably first presented by Block and his employ- 
ers on the 11th of October, 1614. That map exhibited the extent of the Dutch discoveries up to that 
time, and represented New Netherland as extending from the fortieth to the forty-fifth degree of latitude. 
After having served its purpose in explaining the original bounds of New Netherland, and in aiding 
the passage of the grant of the 11th of October, it was probably taken back to Amsterdam by the as 
sociated merchants who had caused it to be prepared. When Hendricksen arrived, in the summer 
of 1616, with intelligence of his new discoveries on the South River, his employers probably annexed 
this parcliment map to their memorial of the 18th of August, so as to exhibit the extent of New Neth- 
erland at that time. It thus became a record of the Slates General. The company, however, wished 
to obtain another grant for the " lands, bay, and three rivers," which Hendricksen had just explored, 
" situated at the latitude of from thirty-eight to forty degrees ;" and the paper map seems to exhibit 
these additional discoveries. 



Note K, Chapter V., pages 150, 152, and 153. 

Much embarrassment has been caused by confounding the Timmcr Kill, or Timber Creek, with the 
Cooper's Creek, in the translation of De Vries, in i., N. Y. H. S. Coll., i., 253. I am indebted to Mr. 
Edward Armstrong, the secretary of the Pennsylvania Historical Society, for the communication of 
some recent investigations made on the spot, the result of which appears to leave little room to doubt 
that Fort Nassau was built upon the point of land at the junction of the Big and Little Timber Creeks, 
in Gloucester county. New Jersey. As Mr. Armstrong vflU probably favor the public with a paper on 
the subject, I abstain from any further remark. 

The statement of Wassenaar, on page 152 of the text, respecting Fort Wilhelmus, " upon the Prince's 
Island, formerly called the Murderer's Island," is certainly very obscure. Not having been able to 
find any other mention of Prince's Island, or Murderer's Island, in the North River, I thought it 
might, perhaps, be what is now called Esopus Island, about three miles above Hyde Park landing. In 
the autumn of 1851, I accordingly visited that island with some friends, to see if we could find any 
indications of a fort, said to have been " garrisoned by sixteen men for the defense of the river be- 
low." We spent some very pleasant hours among its solitary rocks, but found no satisfactory evi- 
dence that a fort had ever been there, although we all agreed that it would be an admirable position 
for a work to command both channels of the river. It has since occurred to me, that what is now 
called PoUepel's Island, just above the Highlands, might have been the spot. I do not know that it 
was ever called " the Murderer's Island ;" but as the " Murderer's Creek" empties into the river at 
Cornwall, in Orange county, nearly opposite, it may be that that name was also applied to PoUepel's 
Island. 



Note L, Chapter VIII., page 263. 
In this and in preceding chapters, I have traced thus minutely the circumstances of the early set- 
tlement of Connecticut by the English, because it is due to historical truth that the question of orig- 
inal Dutch title should be fairly stated. It has so happened that most of the histories which refer to 
this subject have been written by New England people, who seem to have been too much intluenced 
by their Eastern prejudices. Perhaps one of the most remarkable examples occurs in the Reverend 
Doctor Trumbull's History of Connecticut, in which that venerable author asserts that " the Dutch 
were always mere intruders." A candid reviewer, in the year 1818, has so ably considered this point, 
that I make no apology for quoting a few sentences. " The conflicting claims of the two colonies 
were the occattion of a bitter controversy between them for the space of thirty years, and until New 



APPENDIX. 759 

Netherland was reduced to subjection to the British crown. Each party asserted its rights with ob- 
stinacy ; and both suffered severely from the quarrel. It is not easy to discover on what ground the 
Dutch were regarded by the first settlers of Connecticut, or by their historian [Trumbull] at this day, 
as ' mere intruders.' They had made the first discovery of Hudson's River, and had established them- 
selves upon its banks. They had obtained a patent from their government, who had as good a right 
to grant lands discovered by their subjects as any other state. This patent included the lands on 
Connecticut River, and this river was discovered by them before it was known by the English to ex- 
ist, and before the grant of the New England patent. After trading with the Indians for several 
years, they purchased of them a tract of land, and built upon it a fort and trading-house before the 
country had been taken possession of by the English ; and the people from the Plymouth and Massa- 
chusetts colonies, when they attempted to drive them from it, came without a shadow of title from 
the Plymouth Company, under whom they professed to claim." — North American Review, vol. viii., 
page 85. 



Note M, Chapter IX., page 275. 

That the predecessors of Kieft had official minutes of their proceedings is evident from the allu- 
sions in Albany Records, ii., 50, and iii., 291, to "the records kept in Director Van Twiller's time." 
With the exception, however, of one volume of land patents, the earliest entry in which is dated 
12th July, 1630, these records have disappeared. The colonial and provincial records from the time 
of Kieft, in 1638, were originally kept at New Amsterdam, or New York, whence they were removed 
to the oflice of the Secretary of State at Albany. Most of those which relate to the Dutch period- 
down to 1664 — were translated in 1818, and compose a series of twenty-four volumes, quoted as the 
" Albany Records." A great number of Dutch and English records, however, extending from 1630 to 
the Revolution, remained, until a year or two ago, without having been catalogued or assorted for 
consultation, and almost inaccessible, in one of the store-rooms of the State Hall. These are now 
arranged and bound, and they form more than one hundred large volumes. 

On the 2d of May, 1830, at the suggestion of the New York Historical Society, the Legislature 
passed an act for the appointment of an Agent to procure, in England, Holland, and France, the orig- 
inals or copies "of all such documents and papers in the archives and offices of those governments, 
relating to, or in any way affecting the colonial or other history of this state, as he may deem im- 
portant to illustrate that history." Having resided some time in Holland, I was unexpectedly hon- 
ored with a commission as Agent under that act. To avoid, as far as possible, the inconvenience of 
obtaining duplicates, I then spent several weeks in as thorough and careful a re-examination as there 
was opportunity to make, of the principal Dutch and English records in the Secretary's office. Three 
years were subsequently occupied at the Hague, Amsterdam, London, and Paris, in searching their 
voluminous records ; and early in 1845, eighty manuscript volumes, containing nearly five thousand 
separate documents, and comprising the official correspondence of our colonial governors and offi- 
cers, were added to the archives of the state at Albany. Of these volumes there are three series. 
Sixteen, obtained in Holland, which relate to events between 1603 and 1678, are called " Holland 
Documents ;" forty-seven, procured in England, beginning with 1614 and ending with 1782, are called 
" London Documents ;" and seventeen, copied at Paris, referring to occurrences between 1631 and 
1763, are called " Paris Documents." Catalogues of all these documents were appended to the Final 
Report of the Agent, and printed as Senate Document, Number 47, on the 26th of February, 1845. 
Among the Documents of the Agency are many of acknowledged importance, which were never be- 
fore known to the historian. As the law, however, required the Agent to procure all papers in his 
judgment " relating to, or in any way affecting the colonial or other history of this state," several 
were obtained, which, at first sight, some might pronounce to be superfluous. The chief object of 
the agency — to render the archives of the state as complete and comprehensive as possible — was al- 
ways kept in view ; what was deemed to be a sound and wise discretion was exercised ; and in 
many cases where doubts arose whether similar papers might not already exist at Albany, either 
in whole or in part, it was thought best to secure copies, even at the risk of apparent redundancy. 
Under an act passed on the 30th of March, 1849, all the documents procured in Europe are now in 
progress of publication, and will form ten quarto volumes, entitled " New York Colonial Manu- 
scripts." Several of these documents have also been included in the miscellany called " Document- 
ary History of New York," lour volumes of which have been compiled and issued under the direction 
of the Secretary of State. It is greatly to be regretted that, in these volumes, proper references have 
not been made to the book and page, or to the particular place where the original of each document 
may be found, and that a chronological order, so desirable in the arrangement of materials for his- 
tory, has not been observed. 



760 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 



Note N, Chapter IX., page 300. 

The transcripts of Farrett's release to Howe on the 12th of June, and of Lord Stirling's confirma- 
tion on the 20th of August, in London Documents, 1., 60-65, and in N. Y. Colonial MSS., iii., 21, 22, 
are both dated in 1639. It is difficult to account for these palpable anachronisms. The consideration 
stated in Farrett's release to Howe and his associates, " their being drove off by the Dutch," could 
only refer to the events at Sellout's Bay, which the Albany Records £i.\, beyond di.spute, as having 
happened in 1640. Winthrop, ii., page 4, also refers to the occurrence, under date of fourth month 
[June], 1640. It should be remembered, however, that neither Farrett's nor Lord Stirling's instru- 
ments, as they appear in the " London Documents," were transcribed from originals, but from cop' 
its among the Board of Trade Papers in the State Paper Office in London. The originals (if, indeed, 
they existj were not exhibited. 

Thompson, in his History of Long Island, ii., 53, has misapprehended the purport of Farrett's pro- 
test of the 28th of September, 1641, which is quoted at length from Savage's note to Winthrop, ii., 
page 5. That protest was not made to express Farrett's " disapprobation" of Howe's proceedings at 
Schout's Bay, which he had himself formally authorised, but to save Lord Stirling's rights against 
Tomlins, Knowles, and other English " intruders" upon Long Island, who had gone there without 
his permission. In vol. ii., page 52, Thompson states that Tomlins and Knowles were " principal 
men in the expedition" with Howe. These persons, however, seem to have had nothing to do at 
any time with Howe or his associates ; their names do not even appear in the list of persons who 
afterward settled themselves at Southampton, as given in vol. i., p. 327, 328. 

William Alexander, earl of Stirling, was born in Scotland about the year 1580, and soon became 
distinguished as a poet and dramatist. He was a favorite with James I., who knighted him in 1014, 
ajid in 1621 granted him the territory of Nova Scotia. In 1625, Sir William published a pamphlet, 
entitled "An Encouragement to Colonies," of which an improved edition was issued in 1630, under 
the title of " The Map and Delineation of New England," &c. He was appointed by Charles I., in 
1626, to be Secretary of State for Scotland ; and was created Earl of Stirling in 1633. Lord Stirling 
is generally stated to have died on the 12th of February, 1640 ; but, as the Old Style was then used in 
Great Britain, this means 1641 according to the present system of reckoning the year. 



Note O, Chapter XII , page 418. 
The following extract gives a curious picture of ecclesiastical afliiirs at Manhattan about the 
close of Kieft's administration. " What religion could men expect to find in a person [Kiefl] who, 
from the 3d of January, 1644, to the 11th of May, 1647, would never hear God's word, nor partake 
of the Christian sacraments, doing all he could to estrange from the Church all those who depend- 
ed upon him. His ungodly example was followed, in like manner, by his fiscal, Cornells van der 
Hoyckens ; his counselor, Jan de la Montaigne, who was formerly an elder ; the ensign, Gysbert de 
Leeuw ; his secretary, Cornells van Tienhoven ; Oloff Stevensen, deacon, and Gysbrecht van Dyck ; 
besides various inferior officers and servants of the company, to the soldiers inclusive, who all not 
only no longer fl-equented the administration of the communion, but also the congregation to hear 
God's word. During the sermon he allowed the officers and soldiers to practice all kinds of noisy 
amusements near and about the church, such as nine-pins, bowls, dancing, singing, leaping, and all 
other profane exercises ; yea, even to such an extent that the communicants, who came into the fort 
to celebrate the Lord's Supper, were scoffed at by these blackguards. * * * During the preparatory 
service (proef-pcdicatie), the Director Kieft several times allowed the drum to be beat. The clergy- 
man, Bogardus, having therefore requested that the drum might be beaten somewhat further off, so 
as not to disturb the hearers, was answered that the drummer must keep on there, as the director 
had given him orders. The cannon was discharged several times during the service, as if he had 
ordered it out a-Maying ; so that, for the purpose of interrupting the audience, a wretched villainy 
happened against God's church. In the new church, which was built in the year 1642, by collections 
from the congregation, and the roof made tight in the year 1643, preaching was allowed during his 
time until the year 1647, when the Director Stuyvesant came."— Breeden Itaedt, p. 22. The probable 
authorship of this work is suggested in an article in the International Magazine for December, 1651, 
page 597, and in a note, aJite, page 509. 

Note P, Chapter XIII., page 446. 
The Dutch Declaration of Independence, on the 26th of July, 1581— the grandest State Paper of that 
age— abundantly establishes the title of Holland to be called "the mother of fl-ee states." The crip- 



APPENDIX. 7gl 

inal is given at length in the Groot Placaatbook, i., 26 ; and in Van Meteren, x., 209 ; Bor., ii., 277 ; 
and other Dutch histories. Not having met with an English version of this remarkable paper, and 
considering its great importance in developing the progress of human liberty, I venture to translate 
an extract. 

" The States General of the United Provinces of the Netherlands to all who shall see or read 
these presents, Greeting : Whereas, it is notorious to every one that the prince of a country is es- 
tablished by God as a sovereign chief of his subjects, to defend and preserve them from all injuries, 
oppressions, and violences, as a shepherd is ordained for the defense and protection of his flock ; and 
that subjects are not created by God for the sake of the prince, to be obedient to him in all that he 
commands, whether it be pious or impious, just or unjust, and to serve him as his slaves, but that 
the prince is made for the subjects — without whom he can not be prince — in order to govern them 
according to right and reason, and maintain and love them as a father his children, or a shepherd his 
tlock, who risks his person and life to defend and protect them : And when he does not do this, but 
instead of defending his subjects, seeks to oppress them and deprive them of their privileges and an- 
cient customs, and command them and use them as slaves, he ought not to be deemed a prince, but, 
a tyrant ; and, as such, his subjects, according to right and reason, can no longer recognize him as 
their prince, especially when this is done with deliberation and by the authority of the states of the 
country, but they can abandon him, and, without any impropriety, choose another in his place as 
chief and lord to defend them." [The Declaration then recites the conditions upon which the Dutch 
had remained in allegiance, and the grievances they had suflfered from the Spanish government.] 
" We, therefore, make it known that, from the foregoing considerations, and pressed by extreme 
necessity, as we have said, we have, with one accord, deliberation, and consent. Declared, and do 
Declare the King of Spain deposed, ipso jure, from his sovereignty, right, and heritage in these coun- 
tries, and that we have no longer any intention of recognizing him in any thing touching the prince, 
or his sovereignty, jurisdiction, or domains in these Low Countries, and that we shall no longer use 
his name as sovereign, nor shall we permit any one thus to make use of it." * * * "For we have 
found this to be expedient for the good of the country. And to do this, and all that may result, we 
give to all those whom it may concern full power, authority, and special command. In witness 
whereof we have hereto set our seal. Given at the Hague, in our Assembly, the 26th day of July, 1581." 

Note Q, Chapter XIV., page 467, 488 ; Chapter XVI., page 549. 
The records of the city of New Amsterdam, which were kept in the Dutch language, have recently 
been translated, by order of the corporation of the city of New York. They form five manuscript 
volumes, wliich are referred to as " New Amsterdam Records," and consist chiefly of minutes of the 
legislative and judicial proceedings of the burgomasters and schepens. Extracts from them have 
been published by Mr. David T. Valentine, the present excellent Clerk of the Board of Aldermen, in 
the several annual volumes which he has prepared, under the title of " Manual of the Corporation of 
the City of New York." These interesting records have been a great aid in the preparation of this 
volume. It is obvious, however, that in a general history of the state, many points of local interest 
must of necessity be rather glanced at than exhibited at length. A well-written history of the city 
is much desired ; and it is to be hoped that some competent hand will undertake the grateful duty 
of giving it to the public. 



Note R, Chapter XX., page 732. 
Willem Beeckman was born at Hasselt in Overyssel, in 1623, and is said to have come to New 
Netherland in the same ship with Stuyvesant in 1647. He had six children by his wife Catharine 
de Bough, one of whom married Nicholas William Stuyvesant, a son of the director. His descend- 
ants have, at various times, held responsible public trusts in this state, of which they now form one 
of the most respectable families. Beeckman remained at Esopus as sheriff" until 1672. When the 
province was recovered by the Dutch in 1673, he returned to the city of New York, or " New Or- 
ange," of which he was chosen a schepen and burgomaster. In 1679 he was made alderman, in 
which post he remained until the division of the city into six wards, in 1683 ; after which he was 
elected several times, until 1696, when he retired. He died in 1707, in the eighty-fifth year of his age. 
" William" and " Beekman" Streets, in the city of New York, still preserve the name of one of its 
earliest and most faithful magistrates (ante, p. 548). His original commission as vice-director on the 
South River (ante, p. 652) is now in the possession of his descendant, James W. Beekman ; and his 
dispatches to Stuyvesant, large numbers of which are in the Secretary of State's Office, exhibit him 
as a man of probity and liberal views, and a true friend of religion and education. 



762 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YOBK. 



Note S, Chapter XX., page 742. 

"These articles following were consented to by the persons hereunder subscribed, at the goTerr- 
or's bouwery, August the 27th, Old Style [September 6th], 1664. 

" I. We consent that the States General, or the West India Company, shall freely injoy all farms 
and houses (e.xcept such as are in the forts), and that within six months they shall have free liberty 
to transport all such arms and ammunition as now does belong to them, or else they shall be paid 
for them. 

" II. All publique houses shall continue for the uses which they are for. 

" III. All people shall still continue free denizens, and shall injoy their lands, houses, goods, where- 
soever they are within this country, and dispose of them as they please. 

" IV. If any inhabitant have a mind to remove himself, he shall have a year and six weeks from 
this day to remove himself, wife, children, servants, goods, and to dispose of his lands here. 

" V. If any officer of state, or publique minister of state, have a mind to go for England, they shall 
be transported fraught free, in his majesty's frigotts, when these frigotts shall return thither. 

" VI. It is consented to that any people may freely come from the Netherlands, and plant in this 
colony, and that Dutch vessels may freely come hither, and any of the Dutch may freely return home, 
or send any sort of merchandise home, in vessels of their own country. 

'• VII. All ships from the Netherlands, or any other place, and goods therein, shall be received here, 
and sent hence, after the manner which formerly they were before our coming hither, for six months 
next ensuing. 

'•VIII. The Dutch here shall injoy the liberty of their consciences in divine worship and church 
discipline. 

" IX. No Dutchman here, or Dutch ship here, shall, upon any occasion, be pressed to serve in war 
against any nation whatsoever. 

" X. That the townsmen of the Manhattans shall not have any soldiers quartered upon them with- 
out being satisfied and paid for them by their officers, and that, at this present, if the fort be not capa- 
ble of lodging all the soldiers, then the burgomasters, by their officers, shall appoint some houses ca- 
pable to receive them. 

" XI. The Dutch here shall injoy their own customs concerning their inheritances. 

" XII. All publique writings and records, which concern the inheritances of any people, or the reg- 
lement of the church or poor, or orphans, shall be carefully kept by those in whose hands now they 
are, and such writings as particularly concern the States General may at any time be sent to them. 

" XIII. No judgment that has passed any judicature here shall be called in question ; but if any 
conceive that he hath not had justice done him, if he apply himself to the States General, the other 
party shall be bound to answer for the supposed injury. 

" XIV. If any Dutch living here shall at any time desire to travaile or traffique into England, or 
any place or plantation, in obedience to his majesty of England, or with the Indians, he shall have 
(upon his request to the governor) a certificate that he is a free denizen of this place, and liberty to do so. 

" XV. If it do appeare that there is a publique engagement of debt by the town of the Manhatoes. 
and a way agreed on for the satisfying of that engagement, it is agreed that the same way proposed 
snail go on, and that the engagement shall be satisfied. 

"XVI. All inferior civil officers and magistrates shall continue as now they are (if they please) 
till the customary time of new elections, and then new ones to be chosen by themselves, provided 
that such new chosen magistrates shall take the oath of allegiance to his majesty of England before 
they enter upon their office. 

" XVII. All differences of contracts and bargains made before this day, by any in this country, shall 
be determined according to the manner of the Dutch. 

" XVIII. If it do appeare that the West India Company of Amsterdam do really owe any sums of 
money to any persons here, it is agreed that recognition, and other duties payable by ships going for 
the Netherlands, be continued for six months longer. 

" XIX. The officers military, and soldiers, shall march out with their arms, drums beating, and 
coulours flying, and lighted matches ; and if any of them will plant, they shall have fifty acres of land 
set out for them ; if any of them will serve as servants, they shall continue with all safety, and be- 
come free denizens afterwards. 

" XX. If at any time hereafter the King of Great Britain and the States of the Netherland do agree 
that this place and country be redelivered into the hands of the said states, whensoever bis majestib 
will send his commands to redeliver it, it shall immediately be done. 

" XXI. That the town of Manhattans shall choose deputyes, and those deputyes shall have free 
voyces in all publique affairs as much as any other deputyes. 



APPENDIX. 763 

" XXII. Those who have any property in any houses in the fort of Aurania shall (if they please) 
slight the fortifications there, and then injoy all their houses as all people do where there is no fort. 

" XXIII. If there be any soldiers that will go into Holland, and if the Company of West India in 
Amsterdam, or any private persons here, will transport them into Holland, then they shall have a safe 
passport from Colonel Richard NicoUs, deputy governor under his royal highness, and the other com- 
missioners, to defend the ships that shall transport such soldiers, and all the goods in them, from any 
surprizal or acts of hostility to be done by any of his majestie's ships or subjects. That the copies 
of the king's grant to his royal highness, and the copy of his royal highness's commission to Colonel 
Richard NicoUs, testified by two commissioners more and Mr. Winthrop, to be true copies, shall be 
delivered to the Honourable Mr. Stuyvesant, the present governor, on Monday next, by eight of the 
dock in the morning, at the Old Miln, and these articles consented to and signed by Colonel Richard 
NicoUs, deputy governor to his royal highness, and that within two hours after, the fort and town 
caUed New Amsterdam, upon the isle of Manhatoes, shaU be delivered into the hands of the said 
Colonel Richard NicoUs, by the service of such as shall be by him thereunto deputed by his hand 
and seal. 

"John de Decker, Robert Carr, 

Nicholas Varlett, George Cartwright. 

Samuel Megapolensis, John Winthrop, 

Cornelis Steenwyck, Samuel Willys, 

Jacques Cousseau, John Pynchon, 

Oloff S. van t ortlandt, Thomas Clarke. 

" I do consent to these articles, 

"Richard Nicolls." 



GENERAL INDEX. 



A.benaquis, attacked by the Mohawks, 704, 732, 
733. 

Academy contemphited at New Amsterdam, 516, 
538 ; asked for by the people, 640, 641 ; estab- 
lished at New Amsterdam; Curtius rector of, 
056 ; Luyck rector of, 694 ; its high reputation, 
694 ; children sent to it from Fort Orange, South 
River, and Virginia, 694. 

Achter Cul, or Achter Kol, 313 ; see Hackinsack. 

Admiralty, the Dutch, 450. 

Adquidnecke, 332 ; see Rhode Island. 

Adriaensen, Maryn, at Renssclaersvvyck, 244, 343 ; 
one of the Twelve Men, 317 ; counsels Kiefl to 
attack the savages, 350 ; attacks savages at 
Corlaer's Hook, 351, 352; quarrels with Kiefl, 
and is sent to Holland, 357 ; returns and settles 
at Weehaken, 357. 

Africa, colonists allowed to trade to, 540, 656. 

Agents, sent by the New England Commissioners 
to Manhattan, 551 ; their conduct there, 552, 
554 ; on Long Island, 555. 

Agency, New York Historical, 759. 

Agheroense, Indian interpreter at Fort Orange, 
408. 

Agriculture, beginning of, by colonists in New 
Netherland, 150, 151. 

Ahasimus, or Horsimus, purchase of, 202 ; land 
near sold to Planck, 279. 

AiUeboust, Governor of Canada, imprisons Iro- 
quois, 645 ; allows the Dutch commercial priv- 
ileges, 646. 

Albania, New Jersey so named, 745. 

Albany, second title of Duke of York, 735 ; Fort 
Orange named, 744 ; the Half Moon near site 
of, 31 ; Treaty at, 81, 744. 

Albany Records, 759. 

Albert " the Trumpeter,'' sent to West Chester, 
59S. 

Alckmaer, siege of, 442. 

Alford, William, his deposition about Sinyve- 
sanfs declarations, 555. 

Allegiance, oath of, required, 291 ; of colonists at 
Rensselaerswyck, 531. 

AUerton, Isaac, at New Plymouth, 180 ; comes to 
Manhattan, 365 ; chosen one of the Eight Men, 
365 ; sent to ask assistance from New Haven, 
370 ; his house in New Amsterdam, 517 ; in- 
forms Stuyvesant of Cromwell's expedition, 
583; complains of Jacquet, 633. 



Alrichs, Jacob, Director of New Amstel, 631 : 
wrecked near Fire Island, 632 ; at New Amstel, 
632 ; Elder of church at, 633 ; rescues ship- 
wrecked Englishmen, 651 ; death of wiffe of, 661 . 
insists upon conditions, 662 ; complains of Stuy- 
vesant. 663 ; interview with Utie, 664, 665 ; 
death of, 670. 

Altona, Fort Christina so named, 631 ; Hudde 
commandant at, 633 ; Stuyvesant at, 651 ; 
Beeckman at, 663; Maryland Commissioners 
at, 697 ; condition of, 699 ; surrendered to the 
City of Amsterdam, 716; Charles Calvert at, 
717 ; transferred to Hinoyossa, 717 ; surrender 
of, 744. 

Amboy, or Ompoge, purchase of, 537. 

America, name of, 3, note. 

Amersfoort, or Flatlands, first purchases at, 265 ; 
represented in the Nine Men, 474 ; Flatbush 
near, 536 ; its incorporation proposed, 569 ; 
sends delegates to Convention, 571 ; delegates 
forbidden to appear again, 575 ; loyalty of, 579 : 
municipal government of, 580 ; church service 
at, 581, 615 ; Hegeman schout of, 693 ; repre- 
sented in Convention, 722; loyalty of, 727 ; rep- 
resented in General Assembly, 729 ; letter of 
States General to, 730. 

Amidas, Philip, in North Carolina, 5. 

Amsterdam, City of, 20 ; Hudson sails from, 25 ; 
Trading Company formed at, 60 ; inhabitants 
of, 103; Chamber of West India Company at, 
135 ; cosmopolitan, 147 ; classis of, 273 ; burgh- 
ership in, 192, 453 ; Stadt Huys of, 457 ; bank 
of, 463 ; orphan-house of, 513 ; sides with West 
India Company, 539 ; New Amsterdam to re- 
semble, 540, 541 ; colony of on South River, 
629-633 ; children from orphan-house of, 653 ; 
alters conditions, 661 ; desires to retransfer 
New Amstel, 670, 682 ; appoints Hinoyossa di- 
rector, 082 ; modifies its conditions, 697 ; en- 
courages a Mennonist colony at the Horekill, 
698, 699 ; obtains cession of the whole of the 
South River, 714, 715 ; government established 
there, 717 ; its colonists reduced by the En- 
glish, 744. 

Amsterdam, Chamber of West India Company, 
New Netherland assigned to its care, 148 ; set: 
West India Company. 

Amsterdam Fort, begun on Manhattan, 165, 166 , 
see Fort Amsterdam. 



766 



INDEX. 



Amsterdam Trading Company formed, 00 ; char- 
ter to from the States General, G2, 63 ; applies 
for further charter, 80 , dissolved, 69. 

Anchor Bay, 57. 

Andiafaroctii, Indian name of Lake George or 
Saint Sacrement, 422 ; see Saint Saerement. 

Annie's Hoeck, 334 ; settlement at, destroyed, 3G6. 

Anthony, Allard, schepen of New Amsterdam, 
548 ; signs letter to New England agents, 553 ; 
sent as agent to Holland, 559 ; a burgomaster 
of New Amsterdam, 597 ; sent as commissioner 
to English villages, 597. 

Apokeepsing, aboriginal name of Pokeepsie, 75. 

Apoquinimy Creek, treaty at, 697 ; chosen by 
Ilinoyossa as the site for capital, 717. 

Appeal, right of, denied by Kieft,411 , 417 ; by Stuy- 
vesant, 472 ; granted by States General, 503. 

Archipelago, 56, 296. 

Archives of Holland, England, and France, docu- 
ments obtained from. 759. 

Aressick, purchase of, 202. 

-Argall, Captain Samuel, 17, 51 ; in Acadia, 52, 53 ; 
his alleged visit to Manhattan, 54, 754, 755 ; his 
complaint against the Dutch, 140 ; his designs 
on the Sotith River, 249. 

.\rgenson. Governor of Canada, executes Mo- 
hawks, 650. 

Armenperal, on the Sprain River, 329. 

Armenveruis purchased by Corssen, 232; pur- 
chase confirmed, 485. 

Arminians, or Remonstrants, 104-111. 

.\rminius, 104-106. 

Artists, eminent, in Holland, 460. 

Ashford, on Long Island, 671. 703, 726; see Se- 
tauket. 

Aspect of Holland, 456, 457. 

Assembly, General Provincial, meets at New Am- 
sterdam, 728; its proceedings, 729-731. 

Assyreoni and Charistooni, the Dutch so called 
by the Mohawks, 376. 

Atkarkarton, name of Esopus, 536. 

Atonement, Indian, for blood, 316, 348. 

Atotarho, chief of the Irociuois confederation, 84. 

Atrocities agamst Indian prisoners, 389. 

Baas, meaning cf the Dutch phrase, 261, note. 

Bachtamo, god of Esopus savages, 731. 

Backer, .loost Teunissen de, his case, 490, 511. 

Backer, Schepen Jacob, a commissioner at lleeni- 
Ktede, 728 ; a delegate from New Amsterdam to 
General Assembly, 728. 

Backerus, Domine Johannes, succeeds Bogardus, 
468 ; writes to fugitives at New Haven, 482 ; 
asks his dismission, 494 ; forbidden to read pa- 
pers from pulpit. 504; sails for Holland, 5(/7. 
508, 512. 

Bakers, regulations for, 517. 

Baltimore, Cecilius Lord, his grant of MaryUitid, 
252 ; sends colonists to, 253 ; his authority ab- 
rogated, 559; designs of, on tlie South River. 



663 ; his title discussed, 666-669 ; his demands 
from the West India Company, 685 ; obtains a 
confirmation of his patent, 697 ; appeals to 
Charles II., 701 ; his son Charles visits New 
Amstel and Altona, 717; NicoUs' oj)inion of his 
right to South River, 744. 

Baltimore, George Lord, visits Virginia, 251. 

Baly, Mr., at Oost-dorp, 627. 

B-ank of Amsterdam, 463. 

Baptism, number of children for, 508; ditUculIy re- 
specting form of, in Liturgy, 642. 1)43, OS*!, C61. 

Baptists persecuted at Flushing, 626. 

Barlow, Arthur, in North Carolina, 5. 

Barende-gat, or Barnegat, De Vries at, 228. 

Barent, Govert, armorer at Fort Amsterdam, 400 

Barentsen, Peter, superintendent of Indian trade, 
152; treats with Sequin chief, 168: returns to 
Holland, 169. 

Barueveldt, John van Olden, advocate of Holland, 
24, 39, 61, 105; takes part with the Reir.on- 
strants, 107; his death. 111. 

Bassett, Robert, at Oost-dorp, 627. 

Battery, the, commanding situation of, 165, 166. 
treaty at the, 409. 

Ba.xter, George, appointed English secretary, 337 , 
goes with e.xpedition to Staten Island, 386 ; to 
West Chester, 367 ; one of the patentees of 
Gravescnd, 411 ; sent with letter to Eaton, 428 ; 
continued as English secretary by Stuyvi-sant, 
466 ; influences English at Graveseud to side 
with Stnyvesant, 509, 518 : one of Stuyvesant's 
arbitrators at Hartford, 519, 521 : arrests Van 
Dincklagen, 526; opposes Stuyvesant, 568; 3 
delegate at New Amsterdam, 569, 571 ; draws up 
Remonstrance of Convention, 571-573; signs 
letter to Amsterdam, 566 ; removed from magis- 
tracy at Gravesend, 596 ; hoists British Ilag at, 
597 ; is arrested and imprisoned at New Am- 
sterdam, 598 ; escapes, 620 ; his fraudulent con- 
duct at Gravesend, 620 ; goes to New England, 
620 ; in London, 725. 

Baxter, Thomas, contracts for palisades for New 
Amsterdam, 550 ; turns pirate, and is arrested 
in New England, 565. 

Bayard, Anna, procures Hodgson's release, 637. 

Bayard, Judith, Stuyvesant married to, 432. 

Bayard, Nicholas, clerk, sent to Rustdorp, 689 ; 
marries Judith Varlett, 703. 

Beaver Lane, near Fort Amsterdam, 389 ; garn 
son marches down, 742. 

Beeck, Paulus van der, a delegate from Breucke 
len to the Convention at New Amsterdam, 571 

Beeckman, Cornells, a delegate to General Assem. 
hly, 729. 

Beeckman, Willeni, schepen of New Amsterdam, 
548 ; signs letter to New England agents, 553 ; 
a delegate from Breuckelen to the Convention, 
571 ; a schepen of New Amsterdam, 613 ; ap- 
pointed Vice-director on South River, 652 : pur- 
chases the Horekills, 663 ; his interview with 



INDEX. 



767 



Utie, 664, 665 ; unpleasant relations with Ilino- 
yossa, 682 ; receives Maryland commissioners, 
697 ; his disagreements with Hinoyossa, 699 ; 
entertains Charles Calvert, 717; asks for em- 
ployment on the North River, 718 ; is appointed 
commissary at Esopus, 732 ; notice of, 761. 

Beer, e.xcise on, enforced by Kieft, 394, 395. 

Beeren Island, De Vries at, 302 ; Fort built at, 400. 

Benevolence of the Dutch, 462. 

Bennett, Richard, Governor of Virginia, Dutch 
agents sent to, 559. 

Bentyn, Jacques, counsellor, 223 ; one of the 
Twelve Men, 317. 

Bergen, purchased by Stuyvesant, 642 ; charter 
of, 691 ; church at, 692 ; represented in Conven- 
tion, 722 ; represented in General Assembly, 729. 

Berkeley, Lord, grant of New Jersey to, 736, 745. 

Berkeley, Sir William, Governor of Virginia, 559, 
683 ; agrees to a treaty, and sends Moody to 
New Amsterdam, 683 ; his correspondence with 
Stuyvesant, 684 ; sent as agent to England, 701 ; 
his ill success there, 702 ; his brother covets 
and obtains New Jersey, 735, 736. 

Bermuda, Gates and Somers at, 50 ; Indian pris- 
oners sent to governor of, 396. 

Beversrede, Fort, 483 ; see Fort Beversrede. 

Beverswyck, or Beverwyck, or the Fuyck, 244 ; 
progress of, 266 ; church planned at, 343 ; popu- 
lation and church at, 374 ; traders at, 376, 377 ; 
dispute about its jurisdiction, 491-494 ; com- 
pany's orders respecting it, 521 ; first school- 
master at, 522 ; bosch-loopers at, 523 ; colonists 
at, take oath, 531 ; further troubles at, 533, 534 ; 
declared to be independent of Rensselaerswyck, 
and annexed to Fort Orange, 535 ; its affairs 
considered in Holland, 562, 563 ; Father Poncet 
relieved at, 564 ; taxes at, 590, 591 ; excise of, 
farmed, 610; Father Le Moyne at, 611; Mo- 
hawks at, 611, 612; excise enforced at, 623; 
tapsters fined, 624 ; new church built at, 624, 
625 ; question of excise settled at, 649 ; dele- 
gates from, at Caughnawaga, 659, 060 ; bosch- 
loopers at, 679 ; growth of church at, 681 ; oc- 
casional dearth at, 691; small-pox at, 710; plank 
fence at, 711 ; represented in General Assembly, 
729 ; fur trade at, 732 ; surrender of, to the En- 
glish, 744 ; see Fort Orange. 

«Hgotry and intolerance in New Netherland, 581, 
582, 617, 626, 634-639, 643, 656, 681, 705; re- 
buked by the Company, and ended, 707. 

Bikker, Gerrit, his pusillanimity at Fort Casimir, 
593 ; is reported to Holland, 594 ; orders of West 
India Company respecting, 601. 

Bill of exchange, Kieft's, dishonored by West In- 
dia Company, 365, 393 ; Stuyvesant's, security 
required for, 720. 

Billou, Pierre, a delegate to General Assembly, 729. 

Bilt, Simon van der, killed at Paulus' Hook, 509. 

Binnenhof, the, 61, HI, 449. 

Blanck, Juriaen, schipper, 380, 424. 



Blauvelt, Captain, of privateer La Garce, 393. 

Blessing of the Bay, Winthrop's bark, at Manhat- 
tan, 239. 

Bleecker, Jan Jansen, of Meppel, 625, note. 

Bleeuw, Francois le, sent as agent to Holland. 
576 ; his mission disapproved of there, 587, 5'JO 

Block, Adriaen, sails to Manhattan, 46 ; his ship 
burned, 48 ; builds yacht Restless, 55 ; explores 
Long Island Sound, &c., 56-58 ; discovers the 
Connecticut River, 57 ; at Block Island, 57 ; at 
Rhode Island and Massachusetts, 58; returns 
to Holland, 59 ; in the Arctic Ocean, 65. 

Blom, Domine Hermanus, 657 ; settled at Esopus. 
680; his success there, 710; courageous con- 
duct of, 711. 

Blommaert, Samuel, a member of the Amsterdam 
Chamber, 148 ; befriends De Rasieres, 164, 167 ; 
buys on the South River with Godyn, 200 ; a 
proprietor in Rensselaerswyck. 204. 

Boats on North River attacked by Indians, 364. 

Bogaerdt, Harman Mynderts van de, commissary 
at Fort Orange, 419 ; succeeded by Van Brugge, 
491. 

Bogaerdt, Joost de, on the South River, 320. 

Bogardus, Domine Everardus, first clergyman in 
New Netherland, 223, 243 ; reprimands Van 
Twiller, 245 ; marries Annetje Bogardus, 266 ; 
complained of in Holland, 273 ; retained by 
Kieft, 278; his daughter married, 336; warns 
Kieft against his rashness, 350 ; denounces the 
director, 417 ; quarrels with Kieft, 418, 760 ; is 
succeeded by Domine Backerus, 468 ; sails for 
Europe and is drowned, 472, 473. 

Books, publication of, in Holland, 459. 

Boomtje's Hook, or Bombay Hook, lands near, 
purchased, 529 ; conveyed to city of Amsterdam, 
630 ; called Canaresse, 632 ; lands near, order- 
ed to be purchased, 652 ; purchase made, 663 ; 
transferred to city of Amsterdam, 716, 717. 

Bosch-loopers, or runners in the woods, at Rens- 
selaerswyck, 377, 523 ; irregularities of, 679 ; 
see Beverwyck and Fort Orange. 

Boston Harbor, or Fox Haven, visited by Block, 
58 ; English settlement at Shawmut, or Boston, 
208 ; Connecticut sachem at, 210 ; Stuyvesant 
at, 718; see Massachusetts. 

Boswell, Sir William, English minister at the 
Hague, his advice to the Connecticut people, 324. 

Boswyck, or Bushwick, incorporated, 693 ; popu- 
lation of, 693 ; represented in Convention, 722 ; 
represented in General Assembly, 729 ; letter 
of States General to, 730. 

Boundary line, settled at Hartford, 519, 520; ob- 
jected to in Holland, 539 ; negotiations respect- 
ing, 544, 545, 601 ; confirmed by the States Gen- 
eral, 621 ; denied by Massachusetts, 654, 672 ; 
further negotiations respecting, 685 ; repudiated 
by Connecticut, 720, 730 ; action of States Gen 
eral respecting, 730. 
Bout, Jan Evertsen, at Pavonia, 351 ; one of the 



768 



INDEX. 



Eight Men in place of Dam, 365 ; one of the 
Nine Men, 476; signs memorial to the States 
General, 505 ; appointed a delegate to Holland, 
507; at the Hague, 511, 512; returns to New 
Netherland, 516. 

Bouwery, Stuyvesant's, at Manhattan, 504 ; Dom- 
ine Selyns at, 681 ; capitulation agreed to at, 
742, 762. 

Bowne, John, a farmer at Flushing, favors the 
Quakers, 705 ; is arrested and banished, 706 ; 
returns under favor, 707. 

Bradford, Governor William, of New Plymouth, 
171 ; his correspondence with the Dutch at Man- 
hattan, 173-181 ; entertains De Rasieres, 178; 
contrasted with Governor Harvey of Virginia, 
227 ; visits Boston, 238 ; in old age, 499. 

Brandy first given to savages, 31 ; sale of, regu- 
lated, 277 ; use of, general, 307 ; distillery for, 
on Staten Island, 313 ; Indian chiefs opposed to 
sale of, 348 : sale of, prohibited, 466, 488 ; regu- 
lations about, disobeyed, 657, 659. 

Brazil conquered by West India Company, 185 ; 
trade to, 406, 629. 

Bread, weight of, regulated, 517. 

Bredenbent, William, a delegate to General As- 
sembly, 729. 

Breeden Raedt, 48, 413, 509, 760. 

Breedon, Captain Thomas, Governor of Nova 
Scotia, at Fort Orange, 704; accompanies Cart- 
wright to Fort Orange, 743 ; at treaty with the 
Iroquois, 744. 

Bressani, Father Joseph, ransomed from the Mo- 
hawks, 402 ; relieved by the Dutch and sent 
back to Europe, 402. 

Breuckelen, Walloons settle near, 154; Thomas 
Belcher settles at, 292 ; Indians near, attacked, 
353, 354 ; obtains a municipal government, 421 ; 
is represented in the Nine Men, 474; is rep- 
resented in Convention at New Amsterdam, 
571 ; delegates forbidden to appear again, 575 ; 
ferry to, action about, of municipal government 
of New Amsterdam, 575 ; loyalty of, 579 ; muni- 
cipal government of, 580 ; church service at, 
591. 615; measures against sectarianism at, 
639; Tonneman, schout of, transferred to New 
Amsterdam, 674 ; Domine Selyns settled at, 
680 ; population of, 080 ; liegeman, schout of, 
693 ; represented in Convention, 722 ; Scott's 
violence at, 726 ; represented in General Assem- 
bly, 729 ; letter of States General to, 730 ; New 
England volunteers at, 743. 

Brewers refuse to pay arbitrary excise, 395. 

Brewster, Elder William, 115; emigrates with 
the Pilgrims, 127. 

Brodhead, Captain Daniel, accompanies Cart- 
wright to Fort Orange, 743 ; at treaty with the 
Iroquois, 744, note. 

liroen, Thomas, injured by the Swedes. 485 ; op- 
posed by Print?., 511. 

Broer, Cornelia, 306 ; see Van Slyck. 



Bronck, Jonas, buys Ranaque, in West Chester, 
268, 296 ; treaty with the Weckquaesgeeks at 
his bouse, 330. 

Bronx River, 268 ; treaty at, 330. 

Brooklyn, name of, 154, note ; see Breuckelen. 

Brouwer, Jan Janssen, counsellor, 164, 201. 

Brugge, Carl van, succeeds Van de Bogaerdt as 
commissary at Fort Orange, 491 ; his difficulties 
with Slechtenhorst, 492-494 ; is succeeded by 
Labbatie, 523 ; appointed provincial secretary, 
532 ; superseded by appointment of Van Ruy- 
ven, 561 ; sent to arrange affairs at Oost-dorp, 
626, 627. 

Buren, Cornells Maassen van, 244. 

Burgher governments, rise of, in Holland, 192, 
326 ; desired by commonalty in New Nether- 
land, 327, 328 ; form of, in Holland, 453, 454 ; 
demanded for New Netherland, 505 ; proposed 
in Holland, 514 : conceded, 540 ; estabiished, 
548, 549. 

Burgher guard of New Amsterdam, 517. 

Burgher right, great and small, at New Araster 
dam, 627-629 ; modified, 639, 694. 

Burgomasters in Holland, 453. 

Burgomasters and schepens of New Amsterdam, 
548 ; prepare the city for defense, 549, 550 ; dis- 
agreement with Stuyvesant, 560 ; obtain con- 
cessions. 568 ; send delegates to Convention, 
569 ; demand a Landtdag, 570 ; agree to a re- 
monstrance', 571-573 ; letters of, to West India 
Company, demanding reforms, 575, 576 ; new 
members of Board, 578 ; patriotic conduct of, 
584 : Letter of West India Company to, 587 . 
Reply of, 588 ; fresh difficulties with Stuyve- 
sant, 589, 590 ; receive city seal and coat of 
arms, 596 ; new members, 597 ; appoint Schel 
luyne high constable, 597 ; Letter of West India 
Company to, 602 ; demand right to name their 
successors, 613 ; ask for a burgher schout, 623 ; 
demand burgher privileges, 628 ; obtain right of 
nomination, 639, 640 ; ask for a Latin school- 
master from Holland, 641 ; arrangements of, for 
the Latin school, 656 ; cause map of New Am- 
sterdam to be sent to Holland, 674 ; a.sk for a 
mint, 694 ; recommend fortification of the city, 
727 ; raise a loan and receive excise, 727 ; re- 
quest a Landtdag, 728 ; preparations of, for de- 
fense, 736, 738 ; require communication of Nic- 
oUs' terms, 739; oppose resistance, 741; pro- 
claim NicoUs governor of New York, 743. 

Bushwick incorporated, 693; see Boswyck. 

Buzzard's Bay, Gosnold at, 7 ; Block at, 58 ; 
Dutch traders at Manomet, in, 145, 171 ; trading- 
house at, 177, 180. 

Byvclt, Peter, counselor, 164. 

Cabot's voyage, 2. 
Cahohatatea, or North River, 72. 
Calvert, Charles, visits New Ainstel and Altona, 
717. 



liXDEX. 



769 



Calvert, Leonard, in Marylaad, 252 ; see Balti- 
timore. 

Calvert, Philip, secretary of Maryland, 663 ; in- 
terview of Dutch agents with, 666 ; made gov- 
ernor in place of Fendall, 697 ; makes a treaty 
with the Indians and an agreement with the 
Dutch, 697. 

Calvinism prevails in Holland, 100-119; of the 
established clergy in New Netherland, 374, 614. 

Campanius, the Reverend John, accompanies 
Printz to the South River, 379 ; visits Hudde, 
424 ; returns to Sweden and translates Luther's 
Catechism, 484. 

Canada, 2, 3, 16-18, 402, 646, 705 ; see French and 
Jesuits. 

Canadian government, its gratitude for the kind- 
ness of the Dutch, 402. 

Canals in Holland, 457, 747. 

Cape Bevechier, Cape Cod so named by Block, 58. 

Cape Charles named, 12 ; Argall at, 754. 

Cape Cod discovered by Gosnold, 7 ; Hudson at, 
26; called New Holland, 26; Block at, 58; 
named Cape Bevechier, 58 ; Pilgrims at, 130 ; 
boundary of New Netherland, 144, 479, 497. 

Cape Cornelius, 79. 

Cape Henry named, 12 ; Lord Delawarr at, 50, 753. 

Cape Hinlopen, 79. 

Cape Inloopen, meaning of name of, 79. 

Cape Malebarre, 17 ; boundary of New Netherland, 

35, note ; or Vlacke Hoeck, Block at, 58, 756 ; the 

- Mayiiowerat,130; Dutch name for Cape Cod, 497. 

Cape May, 05, 97. 

Capellen, Baron Hendrick van de, sends colonists 
to Staten Island, 524 ; lands purchased for, 525 ; 
his purchase at Nevesinck declared void, 536 ; 
opposes Van Werckhoven's purchases, 537 ; his 
colonic laid waste, 607 ; sends out fresh colo- 
nists, 641 ; death of, and purchase of his estate 
on Staten Island, 692. 

Capito, Matthys, provisional sellout of Withvyck, 
714. 

Capitulation of Swedes on South River, 605 ; of 
New Netherland, 742 ; articles of, 762. 

Capsey Hoeck, hand-board for vessels at, 467, 490, 
500. 

Carleton, Sir Dudley, English ambassador at the 
Hague, 108 ; his memorial respecting New 
Netherland, 140, 142; applied to by Walloons 
in Holland, 147. 

Carr, Sir Robert, a royal commissioner, 736 ; at 
Nyack Bay, 738; a commissioneron the English 
side, 742 ; enters New Amsterdam, 743 ; re- 
duces the Dutch on the South River, 744 ; his 
rapacious conduct, 744. 

Carteret, Sir George, grant of New Jersey to, 736, 
745. 

Cartier in Canada, 3. 

Cartwrlght, Colonel George, a royal commission- 
er, 736 ; at Boston, 737 ; sent by NicoUs to Fort 
Amsterdam, 738 ; a commissioner on the En- 

C c c 



glish side, 742 ; enters New Amsterdam, 743 ; 
reduces Fort Orange and makes treaty with the 
Iroquois, 743, 744. 

Casimir, Fort, 529 ; see Fort Casimir. 

Castateeuw, on Long Island, 265. 

Castle Island, Fort Nassau built on, 55 ; fort de- 
stroyed, 81. 

Catechism, the Heidelberg, 103, 105, 106, 110, 463. 

Catholics, Roman, in Holland, 102, 458, 459 ; in 
Maryland, 253; in New Netherland, 345, 374. 
402, 645, 749. 

Catskill, Hudson at, 29, 32 ; see Katskill. 

Cattle, first, sent to New Netherland, 158 ; landed 
at Nutten Island, 159 ; at Manhattan, 167, 184. 

Caughnawaga, Father Jogues at, 423 ; Mohawk 
castle at, 659 ; conference at, 659, 660. 

Cayugas, 83 ; desire religious instruction, 644. 

Chalmers, George, his Political Annals, 42, 62. 

Chambers, Thomas, settles at Esopus, 536 ; aban- 
dons it, 607 ; returns to it, 647 ; his imprudent 
conduct, 657 ; his courageous behavior, 711 ; a 
delegate to the General Provincial Assembly. 
729. 

Champlain, Samuel, in Canada, 16, 17 ; founds 
Quebec, 18 ; discovers Lake Champlain, 18, 35 , 
at Onondaga, 68-71 ; his death, 344. 

Characteristics of the Dutch, 461-464, 747-750. 

Charles I., his accession, 161 ; his reply about 
New Netherland, 214 ; grants charter for Mary- 
land, 252 ; establishes plantation board, 257 ; 
sets up his standard, 341 ; death of, 498. 

Charles II. in Holland, 498 ; restoration of, 684 ; 
establishes council for foreign plantations, 686 ; 
effect of restoration, 687 ; confirms Lord Balti- 
more's patent, 697 ; sends Downing to Holland, 
700 ; appealed to by Lord Baltimore and Lord 
Stirling, 701 ; forms alliance with the Dutch, 
701 ; grants a charter to Connecticut, 702 ; pat- 
ent from, to the Duke of York, 735 ; his author- 
ity established, 745. 

Charlestown, settlement at, 189. 

Chaumonot, Father .ioseph, at Onondaga, 612; Isus 
knowledge of the Iroquois language, 644. 

Children, Indian,, to be instructed, 675. 

Christiaensen, Hendrick, voyage to the West In- 
dies and Manhattan, 45 ; brings out domestic an- 
imals, 47 ; builds Fort Nassau, 55 ; his death, 66 

Christie, James, arrested at Gravesend, 719. 

Christina, Fort, 284 ; see Fort Christina. 

Church, established, of Holland, 100-111 ; of En- 
gland, 112-119. 

Church, first, at Manhattan, 165 ; at New Plym- 
outh, 179 ; at Manhattan, 243 ; out of repair. 
276 ; new one built, 335-337 ; at Beverwyck, 
343, 374, 375 ; at Manhattan, unfinished, 410, 
418, 760 ; repaired by Stuyvesant, 467 ; services 
regulated, 488 ; Nine Men's pew in, 518 ; main- 
tenance of, 568 ; churches in New Netherland, 
615, 616 ; new, at Beverwyck, 624, 625 ; organ- 
ized at New Amstel, 633 ; at Esopus, 647, 657, 



770 



INDEX. 



680 ; at Breuckelen, 680 ; at Bergen, 692 ; serv- 
ice at Stateii Island, 692 ; service suspended on 
South River, 700 ; at Esopus, 710 ; at Jamaica, 
724 ; at Breuckelen and on South River, 734. 
City Hall, at New Amsterdam, asked for by bur- 
gomasters and schepens, 575 ; granted, 588 ; or- 
dered to be repaired, 597. 
Civil war, beginning of, in England, 341. 
Clarke, Thomas, a commissioner on the English 

side, 742, 763. 
Classes and synods in Holland, 104-118. 
• Uassis of Amsterdam, 273 ; appealed to, 278; ap- 
proves Domine Megapolensis' call, 342 ; endeav- 
ors to send out clergymen, 418 ; jurisdiction of, 
468, 494, 507, 508 ; warns church of New Am- 
sterdam, 516 ; declines to recommend Domine 
Grasmeer, 537 ; illiberality of, 582 ; its aiuliority 
over New Netherland, 614; action of, respect- 
ing conventicles, 034, G35 ; report of clergy to, 
643 ; West India Company in opposition to, 
656, 681 ; instructions respecting the formulary 
of baptism, 680 ; sends clergymen to the South 
River, 734. 

Claverack purchased by Van Rensselaer, 510; 
purchase declared void, 536 ; attacked by the 
savages, 733 ; meaning of name, 757. 

(;iayborne, William, his explorations, 250 ; at 
Kent Island, 250, 253 : sent to England, 254, 66S. 

Cleef, Jan van, a delegate to General Assembly, 
729. 

Clergymen in New Netherland, 223,281,342,468, 
516, 537, 581, 615, 616; more required for, 681. 

Clothing, troops supplied with, from Van Rens- 
selaer's ship, 390. 

Cock, Sergeant, at Staten Island, 3S6 ; at West 
Chester, 387. 

Coe, John, of Middelburgh, proceedings of, 723. 

Coe, Robert, uiogistrate at Middelhur;;li, 555; a 
delegate from, at Convention, 569, 571. 

fy'oentie's (or Conrad's) Slip, 335. 

Cogswell, Robert, goes from New Haven to the 
jSouth River, 321, 322; breaks his promise to 
iKieft, 337. 

Cohooes, falls of, 306. 

C^oins, first Dutch, 20, 439. 

Coke, Sir Edward, on the New England patent, 
139. 

('oke,'Sir John, secretary of state, 215, 217. 

ColendoDck, or Yonkers, acquired by Van der 
Donck, 4ai. 

Colman, John, death and burial of, 28. 

Colman's Point, 28. 

ColniiisiM. under patroons, 195, 199 ; new class of, 
estalihsUod, 311, S13; to be armed, 406, 415. 

i;olonization more embarrassed in New Nether- 
land than in New England, 198. 

Combination of English •towns on l.ous Island, 
726. 

(;ommerce of Holland, 19-24, 38, 60,-98, 134, 184, 
457, 458. 



Commerce of New Netherland, 07, 89, 97, 99, 138, 
145, 155, 159, 168, 171, 182; opened with New 
Plymouth, ISO; on South River, 170, 183; with 
New England, 269; regulations about, 277, 268, 
312, 314, 328 ; new arrangements for, 406, 416 ; 
further regulations, 489, 490 ; to make Manhat- 
tan prosperous, 547 ; regulation of, 628, 629 : 
opened with (;anada, 646 ; foreign, 656, 714. 

Coinmi.ssioners of New England, 361 (see United 
Colonies) ; royal, to New England, 736. 

Commonalty, the, summoned by Kieft, 317 ; choose 
Twelve Men, 317; demand reforms, 326-328; 
summoned again, and choose Eight Men, 264 ; 
choose Nine Men, 474 ; propose a delegation to 
Holland, 495 ; memorial and remonstrance ol'. 
504-507, 512. 

Communipa, settlement at, 642 ; Quakers at, 643 ; 
Esopus sachem at, 076 ; village formed back of, 
691 ; see Bergen. 

Conditions, new, offered by West India Company, 
688, 707, 708. 

Coney Island, derivation of name of, 412, note 
salt-works on, 694. 

Confederation, tiie Dutch, 19, 38, 445 ; the Iro- 
quois, 83-87 ; of New England, 361, 362. 

Connecticut River explored by Block, 56, 57 ; 
Dutch traders at, 145 ; Eelkens imprisons a 
chief at, 146 ; Dutch fort projected at, 153; Ba- 
rentsen at, 168 ; no Dutch colonies established 
at, 207; visited by Winslow, 210 ; Lord War- 
wick's grant of, 211 ; called Connittecock, 232 ; 
no Dutch colonists on, 233 ; sachem visits Bos- 
ton, 210, 233; Dutch fort Good Hope, built on, 
235 ; Winthrop's bark at mouth of, 239 ; Weth- 
ersfield and Hartford settled, 257 ; John Win- 
throp governor of, 260 ; exterminates the Pe- 
quods, 270-273 ; progress of English settlements 
in, 293-295, 322-324, 339-341 ; commissioners 
of, 361 ; complaints of, 363 ; temper of, 370 ; 
correspondence of, with Kieft, 429-430 ; with 
Stuyvesant, 478-482, 496, 497, 499, 500 ; treaty 
at Hartford, 519, 520 ; expedition from, to South 
River, 527: feelings of, against the Dutch, 549, 
550-555, 558, 559, 565, 566; sequesters Fort 
Good Hope, 583 ; raises forces, 585 ; unfriend- 
liness of, 625 ; Quakers persecuted in, 635 ; an- 
nexes Long Island towns, 670, 671 ; encroach- 
ments of, 674 ; Winthrop agent of, 695; obtains 
a royal charter, 702 ; asserts its authority over 
part of New Netherland, 703 ; enforces it at 
West Chester, 709 ; non-intercourse regulations 
of, 710 ; Dutch commissioners at, 720, 721 ; ap- 
points commissioners on Long Island, 726 ; dis- 
regards letters of Stales General, 733 ; part of, 
granted to Duke of York, 735 ; alacrity of, to 
assist against New Netherland, 737 ; commis- 
sioners from, 742 ; volunteers from, at Breuck- 
elen ferry, 743 ; see Hartford and New Haven. 

Conscience, freedom of, allowed, 101, 458, 088 : 
enjoined, 707. 



INDEX. 



771 



Consistory, in Holland, 104 ; at Manhattan, 273, 

336, 467, 516. 
Conventicles, proclamation against, unauthor- 
ized, 617 ; executed, 626, 635 ; new proclama- 
tion, 637 ; opposition of Rustdorp to, 089, 705 ; 
further proclamation against, 706 ; restraints 
disapproved of in Holland, 707. 
Convention demanded and called, 570 ; proceed- 
ings of, 570-574 ; dissolved, 575 ; disapproved 
of in Holland, 587 ; another called, 722 ; remon- 
strance of, to Company, 722, 723 ; General Pro- 
vincial, meets at New Amsterdam, 728 ; pro- 
ceedings of, 729, 730, 731 ; see Landtdag. 

Copper mine at Minnisinck, 662 ; see Minerals. 

Corlaer " the Trumpeter," 264. 

Corlaer's Hook, 279 ; Rockaway and Weckquaes- 
geek savages at, 349 ; attacked by Adriaensen, 
351, 352. 

( orlaer, Jacob, teacher at New Amsterdam, 640. 

Cornelissen, Jan, schoolmaster at New Amster- 
dam, 516. 

Cornelissen, Jan, magistrate of Boswyck, 693. 

Corssen, Arendt, commissary on the South River, 
232; succeeded by Jansen, 279; sails for Hol- 
land with specimens of minerals, 412 ; is lost 
at sea, 413. 

Cortelyou, Jacques, declines to be schout of New 
Amsterdam, 588 : surveys the city, 674 ; at New 
Utrecht, 693 ; sent to the Raritan, 724 ; lays out 
Schaenhechstede, 732. 

Cortlandt, Oloff Stevensen van, commissary, 292; 
chosen one of the Nine Men, 495, note ; signs 
memorial to States General, 505 ; appointed 
schepen of New Amsterdam, 578 ; burgomaster, 
sent on embassy to Hartford, 720, 721 ; meets 
Scott at Jamaica, 727 ; accompanies Stuyvesant 
to Hemstede, 728 ; a commissioner on the Dutch 
side, 741, 763. 

Coster, Lawrence, inventor of printing, 461. 

Council of State, the Dutch, 450. 

Council at Plymouth, 95, 96 ; complains of Dutch 
in New Netherland, 140 ; dissolved, 259. 

Council, Provincial, of New Netherland, Minuit's, 
163, 164 ; Van Twiller's, 223; Kieft's, 275, 276 ; 
its organization complained of by the people, 327, 
400 ; reorganization proposed, 405 ; new instruc- 
tions for, 414, 415 ; Stuyvesant's, 466 ; Grea;t 
Council called, 502 ; modification of, proposed, j 
514 ; government affairs left in charge of, 597. 

<-'ourts and Jurisprudence, 163 ; sec Tribunals. 

f'ousseau, Schepen Jacques, sent with letter to 1 
NicoUs, 741 ; a commissioner on the Dutch side, 
741, 763. 

( 'oussen, Pieter, magistrate of New Haerlem, 674. 

< 'ouwenhoven, Jacob van, 223 ; one of the Nine 
Men, 475 ; signs memorial to States General, | 
505 ; appointed a delegate to Holland, 507 ; at { 
the Hague, 511, 512 ; returns to New Nether- ! 
land, 516. '\ 

C'ouwenhoven, Pieter Wolfertsen van, schepen of i 



I New Amsterdam, 548 signs letter to New Eii- 
i gland agents, 353 ; a delegate from Amersfoort to 
Convention at New Amsterdam, 571 ; serves in 
j Esopus expedition, 712-714. 

Coxackie, or Kuxakee, 76. 

Crom Elbow, or Krom Elleboog, 75, note 
I Cromwell, Oliver, 498 ; his jealousy of the Dutch, 
499 ; letters from New Haven to, 566 ; protector 
I of England, 582 ; sends expedition against New 
Netherland, 582, 583 ; makes a treaty with the 
Dutch and countermands hostilities, 586 ; his 
letter to Long Island towns, 634 ; death of, 653. 

Cromwell's Bay, on Long Island, 671. 

Croton, or Kitchawan, 74. 

Curacoa, supplies sent to, from New Netherland, 
370 ; Stuyvesant, director o'f, sends soldiers 
from, 395 ; placed under director of New Neth- 
erland, 416, 432, 517 ; Indian prisoners at Eso- 
pus sent to, 676, 710. 

Curler, Arendt van, commissary of Rensselaers- 
wyck, 244, 266 ; his jurisdiction, 304-306 ; ar- 
ranges a church and kerck-buurte, 343 ; visits 
the Mohawk country, 345, 346 ; prohibits illicit 
trading, 377 ; opposed by Van der Donok, 377 ; 
advises the patroon to act with a higher hand, 
400 ; quarrels with Van der Donck, 419 ; goes to 
Holland, 420 ; revisits the Mohawks at Caugh- 
nawaga, 659, 660: at Esopus, 678; purchases 
great flat of Schonowe, 691 ; remonstrates 
against Stuyvesant's policy there, 732. 

Curler, Commissary Jacob van, purchases lands 
on the Fresh or Connecticut River, 234; com- 
pletes Fort Good Hope, 235 ; protests againsl 
Holmes, 241 ; punishes assassins of Stone, 242 ; 
buys lands on Long Island, 265 ; appointed to- 
bacco inspector, 292 ; sent to Schout's Bay, 299. 

Currency, Sewan the provincial. 172, 180, 314, 487, 
694 ; reformed, 314, 328, 3'29, 517. 

Curtius, Alexander Carolus, Latin schoolmaster 
at New Amsterdam, 656 ; succeeded by Luyck, 
694. 

Dablon, Father Claude, at Onondaga, 612 ; returns 
to Canada, 643 ; revisits Onondaga, 644 ; aban- 
dons it, 646. 

Dam, Jan Janssen, 244 ; one of the Twelve Men, 
317 ; a church-master, 336 ; urges Kieft to at- 
tack the savages, 349, 350 ; chosen one of the 
Eight Men and expelled, 365 ; church-master 
with Stuyvesant, 467 ; chosen one of the Nine 
Men, 475 ; required to come to the Hague, 514 ; 
father-in-law of Van Tienhoven, 524. 

Dans-kamer, De Vries at the, 302, 306 ; southern 
limit of jurisdiction of Esopus, 732. 

Davenport, John, of Rotterdam, 261 ; settles at 
New Haven, 293, 294. 

Davis, William, sent as agent to New Amster- 
dam, 551-555. 

Davits, Jan, visits Narrington, 733. 

Decker, Johannes de, appointed to succeed Dyck- 



772 



INDEX. 



man as vice-director at Fort Orange, 599 ; en- 
tertains Father Le Moyne, 611 ; publishes proc- 
lamation against conventicles, G17 ; confirmed 
as commissary, 622 ; arrests tapsters, 623 ; re- 
turns to Holland, 625 ; counselor of New Neth- 
erland, visits Fort Orange, 711; at Esopus, 712 ; 
at Virginia, 734; sent with message to Nicolls, 
738 ; sent a sewand lime, 740 ; a commissioner 
on the DutcJti side, 741 ; signs capitulation, 742, 
763; his conduct at Fort Orange, 743; is ban- 
ished by Nicolls, 744, 

Declaration of Independence, the Dutch, 446, 761. 

Delavall, Thomas, sent by Nicolls to Fort Amster- 
dam, 738. 

Delaware Bay discovered by Hudson, 26 ; Argall 
at, 51, 754 ; explored by Hendricksen, 79 ; called 
New Port May, 97; Godyn's Bay, 2U7 ; taken 
possession of by the Dutch, 150, 153; see Fort 
Nassau, South River, Swaaneudael, New Swe- 
den, Maryland. 

Delawarr, Lord, 49, 50 ; not at Delaware Bay, 51 ; 
his death, 754. 

Democracy, Holland a school of, 452. 

Denton, Daniel, town clerk ol Ru.stdorp, 619 ; 
draws up pledge against Qualier conventicles, 
689; a commissioner at Heemstede, 728. 

Denton, Nathaniel, informs against Quakers at 
Rustdorp, 689. 

Denton, Richard, clergyman at lleemstede, 615, 
619, 636. 

Derracr, Captain Thomas, sails through Long Isl- 
and Sound, 92 ; at Manhattan, 93 ; his letter to 
Gorges, 94, 133. 

Deutel Bay, origin of the name, 292 ; a Dutchman 
murdered near, 316. 

Dincklageu, Lubbertus van, ajipointed to succeed 
Notelman as schout-fiscal of New Netherland, 
247 ; sent hack to Holland by Van Twiller, 266 ; 
complaints af and against, in Holland, 273 ; ap- 
pointed, provisionally, to succeed Kieft, 404 ; 
appointed vice-director under Stuyvesant, 414 ; 
commissioned and sworn, 432 ; a counselor, 
466 ; presiding judge, 467 ; at the South River, 
485 ; opposes Stuyvesanfs treatment of Van der 
Donck, 502 ; acknowledges his error in Melyn's 
case, 503 ; writes to Holland in favor of the Nine 
Men, 507 ; protests against Stuyvesant's man- 
agement, 517 ; is slighted by the Director, 521 ; 
buys Raritan lands for Van de Capellen, 525 ; is 
expelled from the council, 525 ; retires to Staten 
Island and writes to Holland, 526 ; repurchases 
lands for Van de Capellen, 611 ; purchase de- 
clared void, 642 ; death of, 642, note. 

Dircksen, Barent, one of the Eight Men, 365 ; pro- 
tests against Kieft, 397. 

Dircksen, Gcrrit, one of the Twelve Men, 317. 

Director of New Netherland, powers and duties 
of, 154, 159, 163, 197, 222, 275, 312, 327, 399, 414, 
432, 474, 504, 506. 

DiBtlUery«ala.blislted on Staten Island, 313. 



Documentary history of New York, 759. 

Domine, meaning of the term, in Holland, 243. 

Donck, Adriaen van der, appointed schout-fiscal 
of Rensselaerswyck,341 ; his instructions, 342; 
opposes Van Curler, 377 ; is prevented from ac 
quiring Katskill, 378 ; assists Kieft at Fort 
Orange, 408 ; marries daughter of Doughty, 
419 ; quarrels with Van Curler, 419 ; goes down 
to Manhattan, 420 ; purchases Colendonck or 
Yonkers, 421 ; chosen one of the Nine Men, 495, 
note ; urges a delegation to Holland, iiOl ; his 
journal seized by Stuyvesant, and harsh pro- 
ceedings against, 502 ; signs memorial to the 
States General, 504, 505 ; draws up '' Vertoogh," 
and is appointed a delegate to Holland, 507 ; at 
the Hague, 511, 512; arranges for more emi- 
grants, 513 ; opposes Van Tienhoven at the 
Hague, 623 ; procures his arrest, 524 ; his faith- 
fulness in Holland, 527 ; censures Stuyvesant's 
conduct again, 539; favored by the States Gen- 
eral, 541 ; statement of his wife respecting the 
Mohawks, 555 ; made a doctor of laws at Ley- 
den University, 560 ; returns to New Nether- 
land, 561 ; publication of his "Description of 
New Netherland," 561, note. 

Dordrecht, Synod of, 109, 110; conformity to. re- 
quired, 312, 342, 609, 617. 

Doughty, Francis, comes to Manhattan, 333 ; ob- 
tains patent for Mespath, 333 ; his settlement 
destroyed by the savages, 367 ; preaches at iMan- 
hattan, 368; his troubles at Mcspalh, 411 ; is 
fined by Kieft, 411 ; removes to Flushing, 411 ; 
his daughter married to Van der Donck, 419 ; 
hia treatment by Stuyvesant, 472 ; his state- 
ments to the New England agents at Flushing, 
555; goes to Virginia, 615; in Maryland, 666. 

Downing, Sir George, British ambassador at the 
Hague, 700 ; his menacing language, 735 

Drisius, Domine Samuel, becomes a colleague of 
Megapolensis at New Amsterdam, 537 ; sent on 
a mission to Virginia, 561 ; preaches at Staten 
Island, 615; jealous of the Lutherans, 616: 
complains of conventicles, 617 ; of Goetwater 
and the Lutherans, 635 ; recommends a Latin 
school at New Amsterdam, 640 ; explanations 
respecting religious affairs, 643 ; instructed by 
the Company to be more moderate, 656 ; success 
of his ministry, 681 ; baptizes at Rustdorp, 689 , 
preaches at Staten Island, 692. 

Dupuys, Sieur, at Onondaga, 644 ; abandons it, 646. 

Dutch, the, name of, 19 ; maritime destiny, 20 , 
early voyages, 21 ; in North America, 35 ; their 
independence, 38-42, 434-447 ; their established 
church, 99-111, 312, 342, 614 ; their naval suc- 
cesses, 39, 184, 447, 545 ; their political system, 
191-193, 447-459 ; characteristics of, 460-464, 
747-750. 

Dutch ship, English subjects forbidden to go in, 
"to the Hollanders' Plantation in Hudson's 
River," 259. 



INDEX. 



VVo 



Dutchman's Island, near the Peqiiod or Thames 
River, 268; post at, 270, 271. 

Duties, high, at Manhattan, 312, 478, 480, 495, 
497 ; reduced, 540. 

Duyckingk, Evert, wounded at Fort Good Hope, 
295. 

Duyster, Dirck Cornelissen, under commissary at 
Fort Orange, 170. 

Dyek, Gysbert op, commissary at Fort Good Hope, 
295 ; obtains patent for Coney Island, 412, note. 

Dyck, Eusign Ilendrick van, commands expedi- 
tion against the Weckquaesgeeks, 329, 330 ; 
wounded at Manhattan, 369 ; sent to Heem- 
stede, 389 ; against Connecticut Indians, 390, 
391 ; appointed fiscal in place of Van der Huy- 
gens, 414 ; embarks for New Netherland, 432 ; 
his treatment by Stuyvesant on the voyage, 
433 ; in the council, 466 ; is sl'ighted by the di- 
rector, 521 ; joins in a protest against, 525 ; is 
superseded by Stuyvesant, and Van Tienhoven 
appointed in his place, 532 ; appeals to the 
States General, 533 ; kills a squaw, 606 ; is shot 
by an Indian, 607. 

Dyckman, Johannes, appointed to be vice-director 
at Fort Orange in place of Labbatie, 530 ; his 
difficulties with the patroon's officers, 533, 534 ; 
endeavors to levy e.x.cises, 591 ; becomes insane, 
598 ; is succeeded by De Decker, 599. 

Dyer, W^illiam, commissioned by Rhode Island to 
act with Underhill against the Dutch, 557. 

Earthquake and freshet at Fort Orange, 709. 

Easthampton annexed to Connecticut, 670. 

Eaton, Theophilus, 293 ; first governor of New 
Haven, 294 ; refuses to assist New Netherland, 
370; his correspondence with Kieft, 428-431; 
protests against Stuyvesant, 479 ; vsfrites him a 
sharp letter, 480 ; proposes prohibition of trade 
with the Dutch, 496 ; proposes a conference at 
Boston, 499; warned by Stuyvesant, 528; in- 
stigates Underhill, 555, 556 ; urges a war with 
the Dutch, 559. 

Ebel, Sergeant Pieter, sent to Esopus, 712. 

Economy of the Dutch, 401, 462. 

5;ducation, state of, 616 ; see Academy, Schools. 

Eelkens, Jacob, at Fort Nassau, 55, 67 ; imprisons 
the Sequin chief, 146 ; dismissed by the Com- 
pany, 152 ; returns in the English ship William, 
229 ; damages the Dutch trade, 231, 246. 

Eendragt, ship, 201 ; arrested at Plymouth, 214; 
released, 217. 

•• Eendragt maakt magt," motto of the Dutch re- 
public, 445. 

Egyptians, Dutchcolonistscailed, by Puritans, 295. 

Eight Men in Holland, 453. 

Eight Men chosen by the commonalty, 364 ; au- 
thorize hostilities, 365 ; recommendations of, to 
Kieft, 370 ; letter of, to West India Company, 
371-373 ; oppose an excise, 393, 394 ; represent 
the popular sentiment. 396 : their memorial to 



the West India Company, 397-400 ; demand 
Kieft's recall, 400 ; members of, refuse to thank 
Kieft, 466 ; their memorial pronounced false 
by Kieft, 470, 471 ; succeeded by Nine Men, 
474. 

Elbertsen, Elbert, one of the Nine Men, signs me- 
morial to the States General, 505 ; a delegate 
from Midwout, 571 ; a delegate to General As- 
sembly, 729. 

Elizabeth, Queen, lays down the English law 
respecting colonial possessions, 4 ; Virginia 
named after, 5 ; her doctrine respecting posses- 
sions confirmed by Parliament, 143. 

Elsland, Claes van, marshal, sent to West Ches- 
ter, 598. 

Elswyck, Hendrick van, Swedish factor, 594 ; his 
case, 595, 602, 605. 

Emigrants, conditions offered to, 194, 288, 291, 
312, 332, 388, 514, 630, 688, 696, 708. 

Emigrations, large, from English colonies to New 
Netherland, 290, 291, 332, 334, 335, 360, 374, 488, 
574, 595. 

Endicott, John, a patentee of Massachusetts. 188 ; 
at Salem, 189, 190; complains against irregular 
traders, 209 ; leads expedition against Block 
Island, 270 ; asks Stuyvesant to deliver up regi- 
cides, 695. 

England, Church of, 112-119. 

English clergymen at Synod of Dort, 109, 117. 

English claim to New Netherland, 5, 11, 93, 96, 
138, 141, 156, 214, 257, 324, 340, 582, 621, 633, 
725, 735 ; subjects forbidden to go in Dutch ship 
to the Hollanders' Plantation, 259 ; jealousy of 
the Dutch, 140, 156, 543, 582, 685, 687, 701, 734. 

English at Manhattan, 291, 332; Baxter appointed 
secretary for, 337 ; enrollment of, 366 ; defection 
of, 495 ; threaten mutiny, 578. 

Engravers, eminent, in Holland, 460. 

Episcopacy in Holland, 118. 

Episcopal Church, Protestant, its sympathy with 
the Reformed Dutch Church, 119. 

Erasmus, 99, 100. 

Esopus, 76, 145, 151 ; De Vries at, 302, 306 ; called 
Atkarkarton, Chambers settles at, 536 ; aban- 
doned, 607 ; religious service at, 616 ; return 
of settlers to, 647 ; redoubt ordered to be built at, 
647 ; Stuyvesant at, 647 ; village formed at, 648, 
649 ; garrison at, 651 ; Doniine Blom called to, 
657 ; attacked by the savages. 658 ; expedition 
sent to, 660; mediation of Mohawks at, 661; 
garrison destroys Indian fort of Wiltmeet, 675; 
Swartwout commissioned as schout of, 677 ; 
treaty with savages at, 678, 679 ; Domine Blom 
settled at, 680 ; charter for Wiltwyck at, 690 ; 
new village and ronduit at, 710; outbreak of 
savages at, 711; savages defeated, 712-714, 
savages encamp among the Minnisincks, 717 ; 
treaty of peace with savages, 731 ; Beeckman 
commissary at, 732 ; soldiers ordered down 
from. 738 ; Sager's, or Ksopus Kill, 750. 



774 



I.\DEX 



Everett, Richard, informs against Quakers at 
Rustdorp, 689. 

Excise levied at New Amsterdam, 394, 467 ; dis- 
agreement about, 560, 507 ; conditionally sur- 
rendered to the city, 5C8 ; resumed by Stuyve- 
sant, 590 ; at Fort Orange, 591 ; farming of, 610 ; 
question of, at Beverwyck settled, 649 ; surren- 
dered to New Amsterdam, 727. 

Eyer Haven, or Egg Harbor, De Vries at, 228. 

Fairfield blockaded by the Dutch, 565. 

Fairs established at Manhattan, 314, 489. 

Farrett, James, agent for Lord Stirling, 297 ; dis- 
poses of lands on Long Island, 297-300, 760 ; 
arrested at Manhattan, 298. 

Farrington, Edward, of Flushing, case of, 637. 

Fasting and prayer, day of, proclaimed, 350, 639. 

Fatherland, the, in Holland, 464. 

Feake, Robert, settles at Greenwich, 294 ; required 
to submit to the Dutch, 296, 330. 

Feake, Tobias, a delegate from Flushing, 569, 571 ; 
schout of, 637 ; fined and banished, 638. 

Fence ordered to be built at Manhattan, 392 ; see 
New Amsterdam. 

Fendall, Josias, Governor of Maryland, 663 ; let- 
ter of, to Alrichs, 664 ; his negotiations with 
Heermans and Waldron, 666-669 ; succeeded by 
Philip Calvert as governor, 697. 

Fenn and Treat, of New Haven, visit New Am- 
sterdam, 696 ; conditions demanded and offered 
to, as colonists, 696 ; concessions to, rejected, 
708. 

Ferry to Breuckelen, 422, 575 ; regulation of, 569 ; 
from New Haerlem to Long Lsland, 641. 

Feudal system in Holland, 191-194; transferred 
to New Netherland, 198, 266, 305, 311, Ml, 746. 

Fire and light, traders required to keep, 489, 628. 

Fire department in New Amsterdam, 487, 640. 

Fire Island, shipwreck near, 632. 

Firmness of the Dutch, 464. 

Five Dutch towns, the, 580, 693 ; remonstrance 
of, at Midwout, 727. 

Five Nations of Iroquois, 82-87 ; see Iroquois. 

Flag, origin of the Dutch, 19 ; stalTon Staten Isl- 
and, 314 ; for burghers of New Amsterdam, 516, 
517. 

Flatbush, settlement at, 536; see Midwout. 

Flatlands, 265 ; see Amcrsfoort. 

Flushing, patent for, 410; Doughty removes to, 
411 ; Forrester at, 477 ; New England agents at, 
555 ; sedition at, 556 ; delegates from Gravesend, 
Hecmslede, and Middelburgh at, 569; sends 
delegates to New Amsterdam, 5(i9 ; represented 
in Convention, 571 ; Baptists at, persecuted, 
626; remonstrates against persecution of Quak- 
ers, 637 ; charter of, modified, 638 ; orders of 
Connecticut to, 703 ; magistrates of, inform 
against Quakers, 705 ; case of .lohn l!o\vne,706, 
707; Talcott and Christie at. 719; name of, 
changed, 723 ; party from, at the Rarilan, 724 ; 



forms combination, 720 ; Letter of States Gen- 
eral to, 730, 733. 

Fordham, Robert, at Heemstede, 388 ; imprisons 
savages, 389. 

Foreign residents at New Amsterdam, 291, 335, 
374, 489, 578, 628, 640. 

Foreigners attracted to Holland, 102, 459. 

Forrester, Andrew, Lady Stirling's agent, arrest 
ed, 477, 480. 

Fort Albany, Fort Orange so named, 744. 

Fort Amsterdam commenced, 165 ; murder during 
its progress, 166 ; completed, 183 ; repaired, 243 , 
condition of, 369, 373 ; Indian prisoners in, 389 , 
Indian parties around, 397 ; Kieft constantly 
within, 399 ; proposed to be repaired, 405 ; gen- 
eral Indian treaty at, 409 ; propositions for re- 
pair of, 473, 476 ; no goats to be pastured near, 
488; question about its repair, 549, 568; condi- 
tion of, 741 ; surrendered to the English and 
called Fort James, 743 ; see Manhattan and New 
Amsterdam. 

Fort Auranea, the English way of spelling Fort 
Orange, 563, note. 

Fort Beversrede built on the Schuylkill, 483 ; 
Swedes oppose the Dutch at, 486, 487. 

Fort Casimir built on the South River, 529 ; il.< 
building disapproved of by the Amsterdam 
directors, 538 ; embarrasses the Swedes, 576 ; 
captured by Rising, and called " Fort Trinity,'" 
593 ; orders for recovery of, 601 ; recaptured by 
Stuyvesant, 604 ; made seat of the Dutch gov- 
ernment, 609 ; religious service at, 616 ; Swed- 
ish ship at, 620; transferred to the city of Am- 
sterdam, 630-032 ; named New Amstel, 632 , 
see New Amstel. 

Fort Christina built by Minuit, 284 ; situation of 
Swedes at, 319; relieved, 320; Printz at, 379 ; 
lands around purchased by the Dutch, 529 ; sur- 
rendered to the Dutch, 605 ; named Altona, 631 . 
633 ; see Altona. 

Fort Cralo, at Greenbush, 711. 

Fort Elsingburg, Dutch vessel stopped at, 380 , 
in ruins and deserted by the Swedes, 604. 

Fort Good Hope projected, 153, 234 ; built, 235 ; 
Op Dyck commissary at, 295 ; Roesen commis- 
sary at, 296 ; vexatious conduct of Hartford 
people at, 322, 328; Kieft offers to lease land 
around, 339 ; Provoost commissary at, 429 ; con- 
firmed to the Dutch by the Hartford treaty, 520 ; 
seized by Underbill, 558 ; sequestrated by Hart- 
ford, 583 ; see Hartford and Connecticut. 

Fort James, Fort Amsterdam so named, 743. 

Fort Nassau built on Mauritius River, 55; de- 
stroyed, 81. |k 

Fort Nassau built on South River, 153 ; posnion 
of, 758; its garrison withdrawn, 170, 183; De 
A^ies at, 225, 226 ; seized by a Virginian party, 
254 ; Jansen commissary at, 279, 337 ; revisited 
by De A'ries, 380 ; Hudde commissary at, 424, 
482 ; Dutch commissioners at, 485 ; lands 



INDEX. 



775 



around purchased by the Dutch, 510, 511 ; Stuy- 
vesant at, 525 ; demolished by Stuyvesaiit, 529. 
Fort New Gottenburg, 379 ; see New Gottenburg. 
Fort Orange projected and built on North River, 
149, 151 ; Indians at, 152; affairs at, 168; col- 
onists removed from, 170, 183 ; colonic of Rens- 
selaerswyck established around, 201 ; trade at, 
212 ; Eelliens returns to, with English ship, 
229, 230 ; visited by De Vries, 302-306 ; condi- 
tion of, described by Fatlier Jogues, 374 ; Kieft's 
treaty with Indians at, 408 ; Stuyvesant's claim 
of jurisdiction at, 491^94 ; trade at, to be free, 
521 ; Labbatie commissary at, 523 ; Dyclvman 
vice-director at, 530 ; Beverwycli annexed to, 
535 ; views of Company respecting, 562, 563 ; 
trading-house above, proposed, 563 ; Father 
Poncet at, 564 ; Cromwell's designs against, 
583 ; excises at, 590, 591 ; De Decker vice-di- 
rector at, 599 ; Mohawks at, 611, 612 ; new offi- 
cers at, condition of, 625 ; Mohawks at, 650 ; 
English party at, 655 ; deserters from, murdered, 
C57 ; Mohawks again at, 658 ; Stuyvesant at, 
676 ; conference with Senecas at, 679 ; Stuyve- 
sant again at, 682 ; frontier post, 690 ; Captain 
Breedon at, 704 ; Canadian refugees at, 705 ; ar- 
tillery at, 711 ; represented in General Assem- 
bly, 729 ; limit of its jurisdiction, 732 ; alarm 
at, 733 ; Stuyvesant at, 737 ; De Decker at, 743 ; 
surrender of, 744; name of, changed to Fort Al- 
bany, 744 ; treaty of English with Iroquois at, 
744 ; see Beverwyck. 

Fort Paconthetuck, Mohawks murdered at, 733. 

Fort Trinity, Fort Casimir so named by Rising, 
593 ; recaptured by Stuyvesant, 604. 

Fort Wilhelmus, 152, 758. 

Fox, George, disciples of, called Quakers, 635. 

Fox Haven, or Boston Harbor, visited by Block, 
58, 756. 

Franchises, people demand, 326, 400, 505, 573. 

Franeker, High School at, 413, 463. 

Frankness of the Dutch, 401. 

Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange, succeeds 
Maurice, 160 ; death of, 434. 

Frederycke, Kryn, engineer of Fort Amsterdam, 
165. 

Free schools established in Holland, 462. 

Free spirit of colonists at Manhattan, 325, 326, 
400, 505, 573, 749. 

Freedom of conscience in Holland, 101, 102, 103, 
458, 614, 707. 

Freedom of trade in Holland, 08, 456, 458; why 
not extended to colonies, 544, 545 ; concessions 
of, to New Netherland, 540, 656, 684. 

French, their discoveries in North America, 2, 3, 
16-18, 67-72 ; ship at North and South Rivers, 
150, 153 ; tlieir progress in Canada, 344-346 ; 
their gratitude toward the Dutch, 402 ; discover 
Lake Saint Sacrement, 422 ; call upon New En- 
gland for aid, 564 ; among the Onondagas, 591, 
612 ; new, viceroy of Canada, 70,5. 



Frenchmen enrolled, 607 ; settle at Boswyck, 693 ; 
from Rochelle, on Staten Island, 692, 730, 734. 

Fresh River discovered by Block, 56 ; see Connec- 
ticut River. 

Fresh Water, 167 ; see Kolck. 

Freshet destroys Fort Nassau, 80, 81 ; inundates 
Fort Orange, 302, 303 ; damages Beverwyck, 
420, 709; at Katskill, 531. 

Fries, Captain Jan de, arrives from Curacoa, 395 ; 
dispatched on expedition to the North, 397. 

Frobisher's voyages, 4. 

Frontenac, Count, 69 ; Street's poem of, 87. 

Frugality of the Dutch, 461, 462. 

Fur trade, 44, 67, 99, 155, 159, 171, 183, 194, 218, 
224, 231, 236, 248; regulated by Kieft, 277; on 
the South River, 284, 379 ; regulated by Stuy- 
vesant, 467. 

Gamoenepa, farmers at, 642 ; see Communipa. 
Gardiner, Lion, builds fort at Saybrook, 261 ; at- 
tacked by the Pequods, 270 ; settles at Gardin- 
er's Island, 298. 
Gardiner's Island, or Manchoiiack, 297, 737. 
Gates, Sir Thomas, 11, 49-53. 
Gecommiteerde Railen, or councilmen of Holland, 

452. 
Genentaha Lake, in Onondaga, .Jesuit chape! at, 

612 ; Saint Mary's of, 644 ; abandoned, 646. 
Gerritsen, Martin, counselor, 223, 244 ; Bay named 

after, 290, 388 ; see Heemstede. 
Gerritsen, Wolfert, overseer at Rensselaerswyck, 

201, 244 ; on Long Island, 265. 
Gheel, Maximilian van, one of the first schepens 

of New Amsterdam, 548. 
Ghent, meeting of States General at, 437 ; pacifi- 
cation of, 444. 
Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, his patent, 4; at New- 
foundland, 5. 
Glen, Alexander, arrested at Fort Orange, 534. 
Goats sent to Manhattan from Holland, 47 ; from 

Virginia, 228. 
Godyn, Samuel, 59, 148 ; buys land on the South 
River, 200 ; obtains share in Rensselaerswyck, 
204 ; dies, 249 ; his heirs surrender Swaanen- 
dael to the company, 249. 
Goedenhuy sen, case of, 479, 480 ; see Westerhouse. 
Goetwater, John Ernestus, Lutheran clergyman, 
634 ; at New Amsterdam, ordered to return, 635 ; 
views of W. I. Company respecting case of, 642. 
Gold mine, supposed, near Fort Orange, 408, 412 
Golden Fleece, the motto of the, 191. 
Gomarists, or Contra-Remonstrants, 105-109. 
Gomarus, of Leyden, 104-107. 
Gonwarrowe, chief of the Mattinnecocks, 392. 
Good Hope, Fort, 235 ; see Fort Good Hope. 
Goodyear, deputy governor of New Haven, Stuy- 
vesant's letter to, 481. 
Gorges, Sir Ferdinando, 9, 10, 90, 94-96, 140. 
Gosnold, Bartholomew, his voyage, 6 ; at Capo 
Cod, 7. 



776 



INDEX. 



Governor's Island, 267 ; see Nutten Island. 

Gowanus, or Gujanes, Domine Selyns at, 681. 

Grasmeer, Domine Wilhelmus, sails from Hol- 
land, 516 ; is suspended, 522 ; accompanies 
Stuyvesant to the South River, 528 ; returns to 
Holland, 537. 

Gravesend, or Gravesande, Anthony Jansen at, 
292 ; settlement at, attacked hy the savages, 
367 ; patent for, 411 ; letter from, to the West In- 
dia Company in favor of Stuyvesant, 509 ; a sec- 
ond letter from, 518; third letter, 526; Stuyve- 
sant's confidence in, 554 ; disaffection of En- 
glish at, 568; delegates from, at Flushing, 568; 
sends delegates to New Amsterdam, 569 ; rep- 
resented in Convention, 571 ; letter from, to 
Holland, 575, 576 ; disaffection at, 579 ; sedition 
at, 585 ; Stuyvesant at, 596 ; Fresh troubles 
at, 597 ; Baxter and Hubbard arrested, 598 ; 
tranquillity restored at, 599 ; attacked by sava- 
ges, 607 : Mennonists at, 616 ; memorial of, to 
Cromwell, 620 ; Grover arrested at, 634 ; Quak- 
ers at, 638 ; arrested at, 689 ; orders of Connec- 
ticut to, 703 ; persecution of Quakers at, 706 ; 
Talcott and Christie at, 719 ; surrendered to 
Connecticut, 723 ; party from, at the Raritan, 
724 ; forms combination, 726 ; letter of States 
General to, 730, 733. 

Great Charter of Holland, 437, 448. 

Great Council called by Stuyvesant, 502. 

Great Falls at Trenton, Hudde prevented from 
visiting, 425. 

Green Mountains, called " Winterberg," 733. 

Greenbush, colonists at, 343 ; alarm at, 711 ; cat- 
tle destroyed at, 733. 

Greenwich, English settle at, 294 ; required to 
submit to the Dutch, 296 ; submission of, 331 ; 
Dutch expedition sent to, 386 ; murder of Cap- 
tain Patrick of, 387 ; how affected by Hartford 
treaty, 519, 520 ; claimed by commissioners of 
the United Colonies, 626 ; declared annexed to 
Connecticut, 703. 

Grievance, the New England patent a, 139 ; Kiefl's 
council a, 327 ; the government of New Nether- 
land a, 506. 

Grist, Paulus Leendertsen van der, equipage mas- 
ter, 466; schepen of New Amsterdam, 548; 
signs letter to New England agents, 553 ; a dele- 
gate to the Convention, 569, 571 ; assaulted by 
a savage, 607 ; burgomaster, sent with mes- 
sage to Nicolls, 738. 

Grotius, 24, 107, 102, 193, 443, 452, 543. 

Grover, .lames, hoists British flag at Gravesend, 
597 ; takes memorial from, to London, 620 ; is 
arrested at Gravesend, 633, 634. 

Groves, Captain, sent by Nicolls to Fort Amster- 
dam, 738. 

Guard of halberdiers, Stuyvesant's, 525, 607. 

Gueux, origin of the, 440 ; capture the Brielle, 
442. 

Guilds in Holland, 453 



Guilliams, William, a delegate to General Assem- 
bly, 729. 

Gujanes, or Gowanus, Domine Selyns at, 6S1. 

Guns, trade in, 69, 144, 169, 175, 186, 209, 212, 300. 
349; regulated, 277, 293, 308, 376, 415, 478, 490. 
492, 504, 562, 659, 680, 710. 

Gustavus .A.dolphus favors a Swedish West India 
Company, 280. 

Hackinsack, or Achter Cul, colonie at, 313; Van 
Voorst murdered at, 347, 348 ; Oritany, sachem, 
at, 359 ; attacked and ruined by the savages, 
368 ; new purchases near, 537 ; block-house pro- 
posed to be built at, 610 ; court at Hospating, 
near. 642. 

Hackingsacks, or Hackinsacks, position of the, 
73 ; their village, 313 ; chiefs of, visit De Vries, 
347 ; Kieft, 348 ; strength of, 349 ; refugees 
among, 349 ; enraged against the Dutch, 354 ; 
Oritany, chief of, 359 ; attack Achter Cul, 368 ; 
make a peace, 409 ; again at war, 606 ; Dutch 
prisoners among the, 608, 610; their rights to 
Staten Island purchased, 641 ; new treaty with, 

■ 675 ; mediation of, 676, 676 ; assist at last treaty 
at Fort Amsterdam, 731. 

Hadson, Domine Warnerus, 734. 

Haerlem, siege of, 442. 

Haerlem, New, 641 ; see New Haerlem. 

Hague, the, origin of its name, 61. 

Hakluyt, Richard, 8, 10, 11. 

Half Moon sails from Holland, 25 ; returns and is 
lost, 43. 

Hall, Dean and Bishop, at Synod of Don, 109, 117. 

Hall, Thomas, 254 ; at New Amersfoort, 265 ; at 
Deutel Bay, on Manhattan, 292; one of the 
Eight Men, 365 ; insulted by Kieft, 394 ; protests 
against him, 397 ; one of the Nine Men, 476 ; a 
fire-warden at New Amsterdam, 487 ; informs 
against Van der Donck, 502 ; signs memorial to 
the States General, 505 ; his land on Manhattan, 
517. 

Hallett, William, sheriff of Flushing, fined and re- 
moved from oflice for holding conventicles, 626. 

Hamel, Ilendrick, 148 ; becomes a patroon, 205. 

Hamel's Ilootlden, or the Narrows, 202. 

Hand-board at Capsey Hook, 467, 490 ; blown 
down, 500. 

Hardenburg, Arnoldus van, denied right of appeal 
by Kieft, 417 ; threatened by Stuyvesant, 473 ; 
one of the Nine Men, 475 ; signs memorial and 
remonstrance to States General, 505, 507. 

Ilarmcnssen, Reynert, counselor, 164. 

Hart, Edward, town clerk of Flushing, C37. 

Hartford, settlement at, 257 ; expedition against 
the Pequods, 271 ; people of, commit aggressions 
around the Dutch fort, 295; continue to annoy 
the Dutch, 322 ; reproved by Massachusetts, 
322 ; Hopkins and Haynes endeavor to arrange 
the differences with the Dutch, 323 ; commis- 
sions Peters to negotiate in Holland, 324 ; ad- 



INDEX. 



779 



breaks up New Haven settlements, 338 ; com- 
plaints of English against, 383, note ; forbids 
Boston adventurers to trade with the Indians, 
3S4 ; superseded by Hudde's appointment and 
sent to Holland, 424. 

Jansen. Michael, one of the Nine Men, 476 ; in- 
forms Stuyvesant of Van der Donck's journal, 
592 ; signs memorial to States General, 505 ; a 
magistrate of Bergen, 691. 

Jansen, Roelof, 244 ; his farm at Manhattan, 266 ; 
his widow marries Domine Bogardus, 266, 472. 

Jesuits in Acadia, 52, 53, 67 ; in Canada, 344-346; 
in New Netherland, 373, 374, 402, 422, 423 ; at 
Onondaga, 564, 591, 592, 612, 644, 704. 

Jews in Holland, 102, 459; in N. Netherland, 604. 

Joachimi, Albert, Dutch ambassador at London, 
214; action of, in the case of the "William," 
245, 246 ; Lord Say's letter to, 340 ; dispatches 
to the States General, 341 ; ordered to leave Lon- 
don, 499. 

Joehemsen, David, a delegate to General Assem- 
bly, 729. ^, 

Jogues, Father Isaac, captured by the Mohawks, 
345 ; visited by the Dutch, 346 ; escapes and 
visits Manhattan, 373 ; embarks for Europe, 
374 ; discovers Lake Saint Sacrement, 422 ; at 
Fort Orange, 422 ; at Caughnawaga, 423 ; his 
death, 423 ; his missal, &c., recovered, 645. 

Joosten, Rutger, magistrate of New Utrecht, 693. 

Joris, Adriaen, accompanies May, 150 ; at Fort 
Orange, 151, 152; returns, 155, 169, 182. 

Jurisdiction of patroons, 194-199, 287, 304-306, 
311, 312; see Beverwyck, Patroons. 

Kabbeljaus and Hoeks in Holland, 461. 

KaghnuwagH, Mohawk castle at, 659 ; see Caugh- 
nawaga. 

Kallebacker, Indian, with a gun, 306. 

Katskill, or Catskill, derivation of name of, 76; 
De Vries at, 302 ; Van der Donck's views re- 
specting, 377 ; Van Rensselaer's, 378 ; granted 
to Van Slyck, 421 ; purchased for Van Renssel- 
aer, 510; his claim to, denied by the company, 
522 ; farmers at, 531 ; purchases at, declared 
void, 536 ; savages at, suspected, 713. 

Katskill Mountains, why so named, 76 ; proposed 
exploration of, 531. 

Kattenberg, 631 ; see New Gottenburg. 

Kekesick, purchase of, 290 ; see Yonkers. 

Kermis, or Fair, at Manhattan, 314, 489, 748. 

Keyser, Adriaen, commissary, 432; one of Stuy- 
vesant's council, 466 ; a fire-warden, 487. 

Kielt, William, appointed director general, 274 ; 
arrives at Manhattan and organizes his council, 
275, 276 ; his new proclamations and regula- 
tions, 277, 278 ; protests against Minuit on the 
South River, 283 ; prohibits contraband trade, 
293 ; resolves to demand tribute from the sav- 
ages, 293 ; protests against English at Hartford, 
295 ; purchases lands in West Chester, and re- 



quires Greenwich to submit, 296 ; secures In- 
dian title to lands on Long Island, 297 ; arrests 
Farrett, 298 ; dislodges intruders at Schout's 
Bay, and writes to Boston, 299 ; exacts tribute 
from the Indians, 309 ; attacks the Raritans, 
310 ; establishes a distillery and buckskin manu- 
factory on Staten Island, 313 ; reforms the cur- 
rency and establishes fairs, 314 ; outlaws the 
Raritans, 315 ; demands the Weckquaesgeek 
assassin, 316 ; summons a meeting of the com- 
monalty, 317 ; stops New Haven expedition to 
South River, 321 ; orders force to Fort Good 
Hope, 322; convokes the Twelve Men, 325; 
makes concessions, 328 ; dissolves the Twelve 
Men, 329 ; sends expedition against the Weck- 
quaesgeeks, 329 ; builds a stone hotel and a new 
church at Manhattan, 335-337 ; breaks up New 
Haven settlements on the South River, 337, 
338 ; forbids intercourse with Hartford, 338 ; of- 
fers to lease the land at Hartford, 339 ; receives 
present from Van Rensselaer, 343 ; demands the 
murderer of Van Voorst, 348 ; resolves to attack 
the savages, 350 ; sends expeditions against 
them, 351, 352; congratulates the troops, 353; 
public clamor against, 356 ; his deposition pro- 
posed, 356 ; proclaims fast-day, 356 ; attacked 
by Adriaensen, 357 ; makes peace with Long Isl- 
and and River savages, 359 ; attempts to bribe 
a chief, 360 ; opens correspondence with New 
England commissioners, 362, 363 ; draws bill 
on West India Company, 385 ; sends expeditions 
to Staten Island and Greenwich, 386 ; to West 
Chester, 387 ; grants patent for Heemstede, 388 ; 
witnesses atrocities against Indian prisoners at 
Manhattan, 389 ; seizes Van Rensselaer's ship, 
390 ; proclaims day of thanksgiving, 391 ; makes 
peace with Eastern and Long Island savages, 
392 ; his bill of exchange dishonored, 393 ; pro- 
poses an excise on li(iuors and beaver, 393 ; im- 
poses excise on beer, 394 ; enforces it, and pun- 
ishes the refractory brewers, 395, 396 ; his con- 
duct reviewed by the Eight Men. 398, 399; his 
recall demanded, 400 ; relieves Father Bressani 
and sends him to Europe, 402 ; the West India 
Company resolve to recall him, 404 ; makes 
treaty with Long Island tribes, 407 ; with Iro- 
quois and Mahicans at Fort Orange, 408 ; gen- 
eral treaty at Fort Amsterdam, 409 ; buys lands 
on Long Island, 410 ; grants patent to Flushing, 
410; fines Doughty, 411; grants patent for 
Gravesend, 411 ; threatened by the people, 416 : 
denounced for his tyranny, 417; quarrels with 
Domine Bogardus, 417, 418, 760 ; restores Anne 
Hutchinson's grand-daughter, 419 ; grants pat- 
ents for Colendonck, 421 ; for Katskill, 421 ; in- 
corporates Breuckelen, 421, 422; grants lands 
on South River, 425; directs purchase of the 
site of Philadelphia, 426 ; protests against the 
New Haven trading-house at Paugussett, 428 ; 
against the Hartford people and the coinmission- 



780 



INDEX. 



ers at New Haven, 420, 430; instructed by the 
West India Company, 431 ; is succeeded by 
Stuyvesant, 433, 465 ; the people refuse to thank 
him, 466 ; his controversy witli Kuyter and 
Melyn, 469-171 ; embarks for Holland in the 
Princess and is drowned, 472. 

Kierstede, Surgeon Hans, 408, 731, 74S. 

Kierstede, Sarah, acts as Indian interpreter, 731. 

Kievit's Hook purchased by the Dutch, 234 ; arms 
at, torn down, 260 ; see Saybrook. 

Kills, the, 27, 28; origin of name of, 313, note. 

Kinte-Kaeye, Indian dance, 389. 

Kip, Hendrick, wishes to depose Kiefl, 356, 409 ; 
opposes treaty at Fort Amsterdam, 409 ; on« of 
the Nine Men, 475 ; signs memorial to States 
General, 505 ; one of the schepens of New Am- 
sterdam, 613; Kip's Bay, 166. 

Kip, Jacob, secretary of burgomasters and sche- 
pens of New Amsterdam, 548 ; his salary, 578. 

Kit Davit's Kill, savages attacked at, 676. 

Klein, Elmerhuysen, counselor, on the South 
River, 609. 

Kling, Mounce, damages Dutch post on the Schuyl- 
kill, 484. 

Kolck, or Fresh Water, the, 166, 167, 315. 

Koorn, Nicholas, at Rensselaerswyck, 378 ; wacht- 
meester at Beeren Island, 400 ; attempts to stop 
Loockermans, 401 : protests against provincial 
government, 401, 402 ; succeeds Van der Donck 
as schout, 419. 

Koninck, Frederick de, captain of flag-ship, 603 ; 
sent to West Chester, 618; surveys New Am- 
sterdam, 623. 

Konoshioni, or Iroquois, 67, 82. 

Korte Verhael, publication of the, 099. 

Kregier, Martin, a fire-warden at New Amster- 
dam, 487 ; captain lieutenant of the city, 527 ; 
burgomaster, 548 ; signs letter to New England 
agents, 553 ; a delegate to the Convention, 569, 
571 ; signs letter to Amsterdam, 576 ; visits New 
Haven, 579 ; seal of New Amsterdam delivered 
to, 596 ; appointed captain, 631 ; wrecked near 
Fire Island, 632 ; sent with re-enforcements to 
the South River, 665 ; blamed by Alrichs, 670 ; 
commands Esopus expedition, 712-714 ; sent to 
the Raritan, 724; his son insulted by Scott at 
Breuckelen, 726 ; meets Scott at Jamaica, 727. 

Krieckcbeeck, Daniel van, commandant at Fort 
Orange, 152 ; is slain by the Mohawks, 169. 

Krol, Sebastian Jansen, Krank-besoecker at Man- 
hattan, 165 ; commissary at Fort Orange, 169, 
183 ; buys land for Van Rensselaer, 201 ; vice- 
director, 212 ; succeeded by Ilouten, 223. 

Kuyter, Jocheni Pietersen, comes to New Nether- 
land. 2S9 ; chosen one of the Twelve Men, 317 ; 
appointed a church-master, 336 ; chosen one of 
the Eight Men, 365 ; captain, sent to Staten Isl- 
and, 386 ; at Heemstede, 389 ; insulted by Kiefl, 
394 ; refuses to thank him, 466 ; complains 
of his administration, 468, 469 ; proceedings 



against, 470; is convicted and banished, 471 ; 
sails in the " Princess," 472 ; escapes from her 
shipwreck, 473 (see Melyn) ; appointed schcpen 
of New Amsterdam, 578; appointed schout of 
New Amsterdam, 587 ; murder of, 5S8. 

Labbatie, Jan, 244 ; visits the Mohawk country, 
345, 346 ; succeeds Van Brugge as commissary 
at Fort Orange, 493, 523 ; succeeded by Dyck- 
nian, 530. 

Laet, John de, 148; his history, 157 ; becomes in- 
terested in Rensselaerswyck, 204 ; and Swaan- 
endael, 205 ; proposes nejv articles for the gov- 
ernment of New Netherland, 286. 

Lake Champlain, discovery of, 18, 72 ; called Lake 
of the Iroquois, 77 ; Caniaderi-Guarunte, Indian 
name of, see Map. 

Lake Genentaha, Jesuit chapel at, 612, 644 ; see 
Lake Onondaga. 

Lake George, why so called, 77, note ; Andiata- 
rocte, Indian name of, 422 ; named Saint Sacra- 
ment by Father Jogues, 422. 

Lake Lyconnia, Boston expedition sent to, 363. 

Lake Oneida, Champlain at, 69. 

Lake Onondaga, Champlain at, 69, 72 ; Le Moyne 
at, 592 ; Jesuit chapel at, 612, 644, 646. 

Lake Ontario, Champlain on, 68, 71 ; Father Pon- 
cet on, 564 ; Father Le Moyne on, 591, 592. 

Lake Saint Sacrement, named by Jogues, 422. 

Lamberton, George, sends expedition from New 
Haven to South River, 321, 322; arrested at 
Manhattan, 338 ; his treatment by Printz, 362; 
complaints to the commissioners, 383 ; ease of, 
519, 551. 

Lampo, Jan, schout, 164 ; superseded, 213. 

Landtdag, or Convention, at New Amsterdam, 
570-575 ; another, 722 ; a third, 728-731. 

Latin School at New Amsterdam, 656, 694 ; chil- 
dren sent to it from Virginia, &c., 694; see 
Academy. 

Laud, Archbishop, his intolerance, 257, 256 ; his 
fall, 323 ; joy because of it in Massachusetts, 
331. 

Laurensen, Sergeant Andries, sent to enlist sol- 
diers on the South River, 675. 

Lawrence, John, one of the Dutch commissioners 
at Hartford, 720, 721 ; at Heemstede, 728. 

Lenapees, 73, 87, 68. 

Leveridge, William, settles at Oyster Bay, 5W. 

Leverett, Captain John, sent as agent to New Am- 
sterdam, 551-555. 

Leyden, siege of, 443 ; university of, founded, 443 

Libel against the Dutch, publication of, in Lea- 
don, 566. 

Liberality of Dutch government toward strangers, 
291, 332, 335, 374, 388, 489, 573, 640, 686, 696, 
749. ' 

Licenses, patroon's trading, at Rensselaerswyck, 
376, 377 ; disregarded by free traders, 400 ; abol- 
ished, 523. 



INDEX 



781 



Light and fire, the keeping of, a condition of 
burghership, 489, 628, 694. 

Lindstrom, Peter, Swedish engineer on South Riv- 
er, 577 ; rebuilds Fort Casimir, or Trinity, 593. 

Litschoe, Sergeant, at Beverwyck, 535. 

Lokenius, Lawrence Charles, Lutheran clergyman 
at South River, 577 ; retained there, 606 ; con- 
ducts divine service, 609 ; leads a godless life, 
616 ; held in little esteem, 734. 

London Company, 11 ; documents, 759. 

Long Island, Metowacks, or Sewan-hacky, its in- 
sularity discovered by Block, 57, 94 ; first set- 
tlers on, 154; chief manufactory of wampum, 
172; conveyed to Lord Stirling, 259; progress of 
settlements on, 264, 290, 291 ; e.xtent of Dutch 
jurisdiction over, 297 ; English settlements on, 
298-301 ; how affected by Hartford treaty, 519 ; 
first Dutch church on, 581 ; named " Yorkshire" 
by NicoUs, 745. 

Loockermans, Covert, 223 ; refuses to strike his 
flag at Rensselaer's Stein, 401 ; one of the Nine 
Men, 475 ; ship consigned to, seized, 490 ; signs 
memorial to States General, 505 ; prosecuted by 
Stuyvesant, 526 ; proposed as a commissioner, 
552 ; accompanies Stuyvesant to Esopus, 647 ; 
sent to the Raritan, 724. 

Loockermans, Jacob, visits Narrington, 733. 

Lord, John, a magistrate of Oost-dorp, 619. 

Lords Majors, Amsterdam directors so called, 402, 
492, 740. 

Lots, vacant, in New Amsterdam to be improved, 
488. 

Lubbertsen, Frederick, one of the Twelve Men, 
317 ; a delegate from Breuckelen to the Conven- 
tion, 571. 

Lupoid, Ulrich, appointed schout-fiseal, 266 ; con- 
tinued by Kieft, 276 ; succeeded by Van der 
Iluygens, 292. 

Lutherans at New Amsterdam, 581 ; illiberal treat- 
ment of, 582 ; proclamation against conventicles 
of, 617 ; still oppressed, 626 ; Goetwater sent as 
clergyman to, 634 ; chief reason of their discon- 
tent, 642 ; moderation toward, enjoined, 656 ; 
number of, at Fort Orange, 681. 

Luyck, jEgidius, succeeds Curtius as rector of 
Latin School at New Amsterdam, 694. 

Lynn, in Massachusetts, intruders from, at 
Schout's Bay, 298 ; liberal conditions offered to 
emigrants from, 332. 

Mackarel, Yacht, at the North River, 149, 158. 

Magdalen Island, in North River, 54, 428, 712, 

Mahicans, 54 ; or Mohegans, 72 ; treaty with, 88 ; 
at Fort Orange, 152 ; overcome by the Mohawks, 
183, 212; in the valley of the Connecticut, 232 ; 
sachem of, visits Boston, 210, 233 ; Uncas, chief 
of, 271, 363; treaty at Fort Orange with, 408; 
sachems of, at Fort Amsterdam, 676 ; attack the 
Mohawks, 733. 

Mamaranack, chief of the Croton savages, 392. 



Manclionack, or Gardiner's Island, 297. 

Manhattan, origin of name, 34, 73, 74, note ; sec- 
ond ship sent to, 44 ; Christiaensen and Block 
at, 45, 46 ; condition of the island, 47 ; first cab- 
ins at, 48 ; alleged visit of Argall to, 54, 754 ; 
first vessel built at, 55, 65 ; name of, 74, 752 ; 
Dermer at, 93 ; no fort there, 55, 94, note, 755 ; 
West India Company takes possession of, 151 : 
purchase of, from savages, 164 ; condition of, 
165-168; Fort Amsterdam, built at, 165, 183: 
prosperity of, 183 ; the emporium of New Neth- 
erland, 194 ; great ship New Netherland built 
at, 212, 219, 286 ; goats sent to, 228 ; Winthrop's 
bark at, 239 ; condition of, 243 ; invested witli 
" Stajile right," 243 ; condition of, on Kieft's ar- 
rival, 276 ; multifarious population, 278 ; cherry 
and peach trees at, 290 ; foreigners at, 291 ; 
municipal regulations at, 292 ; De Vries' planta- 
tion at, 301 ; masts for shipwrights at, whence 
procured, 302 ; residents ordered to be armed, 
309 ; commercial regulations, 312 ; Manhattan's 
sewan, 314; fair established at, 314; murder 
at, 316 ; reforms demanded at, 327 ; strangers 
at, 335 ; church at, 337 ; savages attacked at, 
349, 352 ; ravaged by the Indians, 369 ; described 
by Father Jogues, 373, 374; military forces at, 
385, 366 ; atrocities against Indian prisoners at, 
389 ; condition of, described by the Eight Men, 
398 ; Father Bressani at, 402 ; measures pro- 
posed in Holland respecting, 403H106; general 
treaty with Indians at, 409 ; depopulation of, 
410, 465 ; municipal regulations by Stuyvesant, 
467 ; represented in the Nine Men, 474 ; muni- 
cipal affairs at, 487, 488 ; burgher government 
demanded for, 505 ; proposed in Holland, 514 ; 
burgher guard at, 517 ; political troubles at, 521, 
525, 532 ; school at, 537, 538 ; concession of 
burgher government to, 540, 541 ; its maritime 
superiority predicted, 547; its population in 
1652, 548 ; organization of a municipal govern- 
ment in, 549 ; see New Amsterdam. 

Manna-hata, Hudson at, 34. 

Manning, Captain John, trades between New 
Haven and Manhattan, 579 ; accompanies Carl 
Wright to Fort Orange, 743 ; at treaty with Iro- 
quois, 744. 

Manomet, Dutch traders at, 145 ; trading-house 
at, 176 ; traffic at, 179, 180. 

Mantes, or Red Hook, on the South River, 225 ; 
lands purchased at, 511. 

Manufactures in Holland, 147, 192,459 ; forbidden 
in New Netherland, 190 ; prohibition of, abolish- 
ed, 312 ; on Staten Island, 313 ; on Coney Isl- 
and, 694. 

Manuscripts, New Y'ork Colonial, 759. 

Maps found in archives at the Hague, 755, 757. 

Maquaas, 54, 77 ; see Mohawks. 

Marechkawieck, 292 ; see Breuckelen. 

Marechkawiecks, near Breuckelen, attacked, 353, 
354. 



782 



L\DEX. 



Marest, David de, a delegate to General Assem- 
bly, 729. 

Marriages, ordinance respecting, in New Nether- 
land, 639. 

Martin Gerritsen's Bay, or Martinnehouck, 290, 
388 ; see Ileemstede. 

Martin, Henry, accompanies Mohawks to Canada 
and is lost, 650. 

Maryland, royal charter for. 252 ; colonists sent 
to, by Lord Baltimore, 253 ; commerce with the 
Dutch encouraged by Culvert, 280 ; side of, on 
Delaware Bay, 384 ; Lord Baltimore's authority 
abrogated in, 559 ; designs of, against the Dutch 
on South River, 663 ; Dutch agents at, discuss 
title of Lord Baltimore to, 666-669 ; Stuyvesant 
ordered to oppose encroachments of, 682 ; trade 
of, with Dutch on South River, 697 ; new treaty 
with the savages, 717 ; navigation law evaded 
in, 724 ; threatening attitude of, 734 ; tobacco 
trade in, 735; Lord Baltimore's rights in, con- 
sidered doubtful by Nicolls, 744. 

Mason, Captain John, complains of Dutch in New 
Netherland, 140; his letter to Sir John Coke, 
142, 143, 215, 755. 

Mason, Captain John, commander-in-chief against 
the Pequods, 271, 272; his proposed removal to 
the South River opposed by Connecticut, 530. 

Massachu.setts Bay visited by Block, 58, 59, 756 ; 
by Smith, 91 ; English grant of land on, 188; 
royal charter for, 189 ; intolerance in, 190 ; its 
religious government, 208; emigrations from, 
to Connecticut, 238, 255-257 ; feeling of, toward 
Maryland colonists, 253, note ; religious intoler- 
ance of, and emigrations from, 331-335 ; com- 
missioners of, 361 ; sends exploring expedition 
to the South River, 383 ; bond slavery in, 429, 
note ; correspondence of Stuyvesant with, 478 ; 
advises New Haven, 480 ; Mohawks a terror to 
savages in, 496 ; death of Winthrop of, 499 ; as- 
sents to Hartford treaty, 519 ; at variance with 
the commissioners, 557 : prevents a war with 
New Netherland, 558, 559 ; maintains her posi- 
tion, 564, 565; lukewarmness of, against the 
Dutch, 585 ; persecution of Quakers in, 635 ; 
territorial claims of, 654 ; an exploring party 
from, at Fort Orange, 655 ; complains to com- 
missioners, 671 ; claims of, 672 ; asks Stuyve- 
sant to deliver up regicides, 095 ; reluctance of, 
to assist royal commissioners, 737 ; commis- 
sioners from, at New Amsterdam, 742. 

Massasoit, sachem of the Narragansetts, 171. 

Masts for ships, where procured, 302. 

Matouwacks, or Metowacks, on Long Island, 57, 
73, 87. 

Matteawan, 29, 75. 

Maurice, John, sherifTof Grave-send, 596. 

Maurice, Prince, of Nassau, 39, 45, 107-111 ; be- 
comes Prince of Orange. 109, 124-126, 133, 160, 
434, 446 ; sec Orange, Prince of. 

Mauritius River,45,214,229, 7.')li ; secNorlli Kiv<-r. 



Maverick, Samuel, of Boston, in London, 725 ; a 
royal commissioner, 736. 

May, Cornells Jacobsen, 47 ; at Martha's Vineyard, 
54 ; at the South River and Virginia, 97 ; returns 
to Holland, 97 ; returns to New Netherland, 
150; first director of the province, 154; suc- 
ceeded by William Verhulst, 159. 

May-day sports in New Netherland prohibited. 
611. 

Mayano, chief of the Stamford Indians, 366. 

Mayflower, 128; at Cape Cod, 129-133. 

Mayo, Samuel, settles at Oyster Bay, 595. 

Measures and weights of Amsterdam required to 
be used in New Netherland, 406, 412, 489. 

Meautinay wins the Fresh River, 233. 

Megapolensis, Domine Johannes, his agreement 
with Van Rensselaer, 342 ; arrives at Rens- 
selaerswyck, 343 ; his influence there, 344 ; 
shows kindness to Father Jogues, 373 ; his 
zeal as a missionary, 375, 376 ; writes tract on 
Mohawk Indians, 306, 376 ; asks permission to 
return to Holland, 494 ; succeeds Backerus at 
New Amsterdam, 508 ; a patentee of Flatbush, 
536; assists to organize a church at Midwout, 
580, 581 ; illiberality toward the Lutherans, 582 ; 
accompanies Stuyvesant to the South River, 
604 ; preaches to the troops, 605 ; thinks terms 
allowed the Swedes " too easy," 606 ; mission- 
ary spirit of, 615; jealous of the Lutherans, 
616; complainsof conventicles, 617 ; complains 
of Goetwater and the Lutherans, 635 ; explana- 
tions respecting religious affairs, 643 ; his inti- 
macy with Father Le Moyne, 645; enjoined by 
the company to be more moderate, 656 ; success 
of his ministry, 681 ; sent to meet Nicolls, 738; 
leads Stuyvesant from rampart of Fort Amster- 
dam, 740; advises surrender, 741. 

Megapolensis, Samuel, goes to Holland, 643 ; re- 
turns to New Netherland, 730; takes Selyns' 
place, 734; sent to meet Nicolls, 738; leads 
Stuyvesant from rampart of Fort Amsterdam, 
740; a commissioner on the Dutch side, 741, 
763. 

Melyn, Corneli.s, comes to New Netherland, 269 , 
a patroon on Staten Island, 313, 314; chosen 
one of the Eight Men, 365 ; president of the 
Eight Men, 371 ; insulted by Kieft, 394 ; writes 
to the States General, 397 ; refuses to thank 
Kieft, 466 ; complains of Kicft's administration, 
468, 469; proceedings against, 470 ; is convict- 
ed and sentenced to banishment, 471 ; sails in 
the " Princess," 472 ; escapes from the ship- 
wreck, 473 ; obtains letters in Holland, 503 ; re- 
turns to Manhattan and is refused redress, 503 ; 
goes back to Holland, 508 ; his efforts there, 512 , 
returns to Staten Island, 525 ; accused of in- 
citing the savages, 525 ; goes to New Haven, 
641 ; surrsnders Staten Island and returns to 
New Amsterdam, 692. 

Mennonists, Anabaptists so called, 374, 616, 749. 



INDEX. 



783 



Mennonist colony at the Horekill, singular arti- 
cles of association for, 698, 699 ; plundered by 
the English, 743. 

Mercier, Father Le, at Onondaga, 644. 

Merry Mount, or Mount WoUaston, 168. 

Mespath purchased by Kieft, 297 ; patent for, 333 ; 
destroyed by the savages, 367 ; savages sur- 
prised at, 389 ; Doughty's troubles at, 411 ; new 
settlement near, 536 ; see Middelburgh or New- 
town. 

Mespath Kill, family murdered at, 657. 

Messenger, Andrew, magistrate of Rustdorp, 669. 

Mey, Peter, assistant commissary on South Riv- 
er, 279, 282. 

Miantonomoh assists the English against the Pe- 
quods, 271 ; accused by Uncas, 330 ; visits the 
neighborhood of Greenwich, 347 ; invades the 
Mahicans, 363 ; is put to dfiath, 364. 

Middelburgh, or Newtown, settlement at, 536 ; 
depositions against the Dutch taken at, 555 ; 
delegates from, at Flushing, 568 ; sends dele- 
gates to New Amsterdam, 569 ; represented in 
Convention, 571 ; sedition at, 585 ; John Moore 
the preacher at, 615 ; asks for minister in place 
of, 690 ; orders of Connecticut to, 703 ; petition 
from, to Connecticut, 719 ; name of, changed, 
723 ; forms combination, 726 ; letter of States 
General to, 730, 733. 

Midwout, or Flatbush, settlement at, 536 ; repre- 
sented in Convention at New Amsterdam, 571 ; 
delegates from, forbidden to appear again, 575 ; 
loyalty of, 579 ; municipal government of, 580 ; 
church at, 581, 615; Hegeman schout of, 693; 
represented in Convention, 722 ; Scott at, 726 ; 
remonstrance of Five Dutch towns at, 727 ; rep- 
resented in General Assembly, 729 ; letter of 
States General to, 730. 

Militia, 312, 327, 328, 351, 365, 453 ; to be armed, 
406, 415 ; enrollment of, in Dutch villages, 579. 

Military force asked for from Holland, 181 ; sent, 
223. 

Mills, Richard, of West Chester, imprisoned, 709. 

Minerals, 33, 34 ; near Fort Orange, 408 ; near 
Nevesinck, 412; explorations for, encouraged, 
431 ; found at Minnisinck, 662. 

Minnahonnonck Island, in Hell-gate River, 267. 

Minnewit's Island, vessel to be stationed at, 579. 

Minnisinck, minerals found at, 662. 

Minnisincks, 76 ; Esopu.s savages among the, 714, 
717 ; trail of the, 757. 

Minquas, 73, 78, 226, 232, 424, 482, 680, 716, 757. 

.\Iinquas' Kill, Minuit at, 282 ; named Christina 
Creek, 284 ; within New Sweden, 378 ; called 
Settoensoene, 529 ; and Suspencough, 632. 

Mint, contemplated, at New Amsterdam, 694. 

Minuit, Peter, appointed director general of New 
Netherland, 162 ; arrives at Manhattan, 163 ; 
purchases the island from the Indians, 164 ; his 
correspondence with Bradford, 173-181 ; asks 
soldiers from Holland, 181 ; is recalled, 213 ; at 



Plymouth, 213 ; goes to Sweden and conducts 
expedition to South River, 281 ; at Jamestown, 

282 ; arrives with Swedes at South River, and 
purchases land, 282, 699 ; Kieft's protest against, 

283 ; builds Fort Christina, 284 ; death of, 321 
Minute-men enrolled in Dutch villages, 579. 
Mission of the Martyrs, 423. 

Missionary zeal of Megapolensis, 375. 

Moderation, religious, enjoined, 642, 643. 

Mohawk River, 83 ; beautiful land on, 346. 

Mohawks, 54, 77 ; called Kayingehaga, 62 ; their 
pre-eminence, 86 ; treaty with, 88 ; at Fort 
Orange, 152; subdue the Mahicans, 183, 212, 
232 ; De Vries among the, 306 ; supplied with 
fire-arms, 308 ; capture Father Jogues, 345 ; 
visited by Dutch from Beverwyck, 346 ; attack 
the River Indians, 349 ; preached to by Mega- 
polensis, 375 ; capture Father Bressani, 402 ; 
treaty with, at Fort Orange, 408 ; at Fort Am- 
sterdam, 409 ; murder Jogues, 423 ; "' Wooden 
Leg," 493 ; a " terror" to the New England In- 
dians, 496 ; alliance with, renewed, 522, 523 : 
trading-house among, proposed by the Dutch, 
563 ; again at war with the French, 564 ; cap- 
ture Father Poncet, 564 ; jealous of the Onon- 
dagas, 592 ; Father Le Moyne among, 611 ; new 
alliance with the Dutch, 611, C12 ; unfriendly 
to the French, 644 ; visit Fort Orange, 650 ; de- 
sire a Dutch interpreter to go with them to Can- 
ada, 650 ; again at Fort Orange, 658 ; visited by 
delegates from Beverwyck, 659 ; promise as- 
sistance against Esopus savages, 660 ; media- 
tion of, 661 ; employment of, opposed by Stuy- 
vesant, 677 ; at Esopus treaty, 678 ; complain 
of bosch-loopers, 679 ; hostile to the Kennebeck 
savages, 682; sell Schenectady flats, 691 ; attack 
English on the Kennebeck, 704 ; threaten Mon- 
treal, 705 ; obtain release of Dutch captives at 
Esopus, 712 ; complained of by Temple, 732 ; 
attacked by the Mahicans, 733 ; first treaty of 
English with, 744. 

Mohegans, 72 ; see Mahicans. 

Molemaocker, Francois, at Manhattan, 105. 

Molenaar, Abram, one of the Twelve Men, 317. 

MoneiTiins Castle, at mouth of the Mohawk, 201. 

Montague, Johannes la, physician and counselor, 
275 ; his farm on Manhattan 279 ; ordered to 
Fort Good Hope, 322 ; warns Kieft against his 
rashness, 350, 351 ; commands expedition to 
Staten Island, 386 ; sent to Heerastede, 389 ; ar- 
gues in favor of Kieft, 399 ; goes with Kieft to 
Fort Orange, 408 ; analyzes minerals there, 408, 
note ; retained as counselor by Stuyvesant, 466 ; 
visits the South River, 485 ; appointed school- 
master, 538 ; a delegate at New Amsterdam, 
569 ; appointed vice-director at Fort Orange, 
625 ; writes to La Potherie, 650 ; entertains ex- 
ploring party from Massachusetts, 655 ; arrests 
bosch-loopers, 679 ; attests purchase of Schenec- 
tady flats, 691 ; his daughter Rachel, wife of 



764 



INDEX. 



Surgeon Gysbert van Imbroeck, 712; required 
by NicoUs to surrender to Cartwright, 743. 

Montagne, Rachel la, guides e.xpedilion, 712. 

Montauk Point, or Visscher's Hoeck, Block at, 57. 

Monts, the Sieur de, his patent, 16 ; at Saint Croix, 
17 ; at Port Royal, 17. 

Moody, Lady Deborah, settles at Gravesend and 
is attacked by the savages, 367 ; obtains a pat- 
ent, 411 ; Stuyvesant a guest of, 596; allowed 
to nominate magistrates, 599 ; her house again 
attacked, 607. 

Moody, Sir Henry, a patentee of Gravesend, 411 ; 
favors disaffection tliere, 579 ; procures release 
of Hubbard, 619 ; visits New Amsterdam as am- 
bassador from Virginia, 683, 684. 

Moore, John, English preacher at Heemstede, 527 ; 
at Middelburgh, 615 ; death of, 690. 

Morley, Captain, obtains a farm on the South Riv- 
er, 744. 

Morton, Nathaniel, his calumny respecting the 
Dutch, 129, 130. 

Mott, Adam, a commissioner at Heemstede, 728. 

Moucheron, Balthazar, favors voyages to North, 
22 ; opposes Hudson, 24. 

Mountains, River of the, 35, 44. 

Moyne, Father Simon le, visits the Onondaga 
country, 591 ; discovers salt springs at, 592 ; 
visits Beverwyck, 61 1 ; among the Mohawks, 
611, 645 ; visits New Amsterdam, 645 ; his in- 
timacy with Megapolensis, 645 ; obtains com- 
mercial favors for the Dutch from the Governor 
of Canada, 646 ; revisits the Iroquois, 704. 

Municipal governments promised, 312. 

Municipal system of Holland desired for New 
Netherland, 320-328 ; demanded by the colo- 
nists, 400 ; effects of, in Holland, 453-456 ; again 
demanded, 505 ; conceded, 540, 548. 

Munster, treaty of, 435. 

Murderer's Island, 152, 758. 

Naindc Nummerus, chief of the Rockaways, 349. 

Narragansett Day, Block in, 57, 58 ; Dutch traders 
in, 145, 171, 174 ; island of Quotenis, in, bought 
by the Dutch, 268 ; boundary of New Nether- 
land, 209, 479, 497. 

Narratikon, or Raccoon Creek, lands bought at, 
511 ; lands near, purchased, 529 

Narrington, treaty at, 733. 

Narrows, the, in N. York harbor, 2, IC, 28, 35, 202. 

Nassau Bay, Narragansett Bay so called, 57. 

Nassau, Fort, 55, 81, 153 ; see Fort Nassau. 

Nations, law of, respecting title to unowned ter- 
ritory, 143. 

Naval war between Dutch and English, 545, 586. 

Navigation, English Act of, 543 ; revised and ex- 
tended, 685 ; its effects, 687, 701 ; unpopular in 
Virginia, 701, 702; observed in New England, 
719 ; enforcement of, enjoined, 724, 725, 735. 

Neale, Captain James, Lord Baltimore's agent, de- 
mands surrender of the South River, 685. 



Needham, Captain, sent by NicoUs to Fort Am- 
sterdam, 738. 
Negroes, colonists promised to be supplied with, 
196, 197, 312 ; on Staten Island, 309 ; further 
arrangements respecting, 406,415 ; more, asked 
for by Gravesend, 526 ; colonists allowed to pro- 
cure, from Africa, 540, 656 ; trade in, 697 ; con- 
dition of, in New Netherland, 746, 748. 
Netherlands, United Provinces of the, 19, 42, 445. 
Nevesincks, or Navisincks, 73 ; attack the Dutch, 
368 ; minerals found in country of the, 412 ; 
lands purchased by the Dutch, 724. 
Nevius, Johannes, schepen of New Amsterdam, 

597. 
New Albion, patent for, 381 ; see Plowden. 
New Amersfoort founded, 265 ; see Amersfoort. 
New Amstel, colony of the city of Amsterdam, on 
the South River, 630 ; Fort Casimir so named, 
632 ; church at, 633 ; prosperity of, 651 ; smug- 
gling at, 651 ; sickness and scarcity at, 652 ; 
population of, 653 ; distress at, 661 ; desertions 
from, 662 ; alarm at, about designs of Maryland, 
663 ; Utie at, 664, 665 ; disastrous condition of, 
670 ; troubles at, 682 ; Charles Calvert at, 717 ; 
powder demanded from, for New Amsterdam, 
736 ; surrendered to the English, 744. 
New Amsterdam, Manhattan so called, 467, 488 ; 
municipal regulations of, 467, 487, 488 ; popular 
discontent at, 495 ; burgher government de- 
manded, 505 ; public school, 506 ; burgher gov- 
ernment proposed for, in Holland, 514, 515 ; 
burgher guard, 517 ; concessions of Amsterdam 
Chamber to, 540, 541 ; population of, 548 ; or- 
ganization of municipal government of, 548, 549 ; 
preparations for defense of, 549 ; first public 
debt of, 550 ; New England agents at, 552 ; mu- 
nicipal affairs of, 559, 560, 567, 568 ; represented 
in Convention, 569, 571 ; agrees to a remon- 
strance, 571-573 ; more power asked for, 575, 
576 ; affairs of, 578 ; military preparations in, 
579; Lutherans at, 581, 582; Cromwell's de- 
signs against, 583 ; put in a state of defense, 
584 ; Kuyter appointed sellout of, 5S7 ; City Hall 
and seal of, 588 ; ferry regulated, 589 ; excise 
resumed by Stuyvesant, 590 ; city seal and coat 
of arms, 596, 597 ; new burgomaster and sche- 
pen, 597 ; City Hall ordered to be repaired, 597 ; 
invaded by savages, 607 ; measures for its de- 
fense, 608 ; contribution assessed, 608 ; excise 
of, farmed, 610 ; affairs of, 613 ; survey and pop- 
ulation of, 623 ; great and small burgher right in, 
628, 629 ; its privileges enlarged, 640 ; munici- 
pal affairs at, 640, 641 ; Father Le Moyne at, 
645 ; commerce opened with Canada, 646 ; for- 
eign trade of, 656 ; Latin schoolmaster at, 656 ; 
volunteers at, for Esopus expedition, 660 ; Ton- 
neman schout of, 674 ; burgher right extended, 
674 ; second survey and map of, 674 ; treaty 
with savages at, 675 ; prosperity of church at, 
681 ; ambassador from Virginia at, 683 ; burgher 



i 



INDEX. 



785 



right, stone wall, mint, and Latin school, in, 
694 ; Winthrop at, 695 ; New Haven agents at, 
696 ; Canadian refugees at, 705 ; Bowne im- 
prisoned at, 706 ; expedition from, to Esopus, 
712 ; Convention at, 722 ; loan raised at, for de- 
fenses, 727 ; excise at, surrendered by Stuyve- 
sant, 727 ; General Provincial Assembly at, 728- 
731 ; population of, 734 ; preparations for de- 
fense of, 736; further preparations, 738; sum- 
moned lo surrender, 738 ; discontent of citizens, | 
739, 740 ; condition of, 741 ; surrender of, 742 ; i 
named New York, 743 ; Nicolls' opinion of, 743 ; 
see Burgomasters and schepens. 

New Amsterdam records, 467, 488, 549, 761. 

New England, Block in, 58, 59, 756 ; Smith in, 64, 
91 ; named, 91 ; patent for, 95, 96, 138 ; com- 
plained of in Parliament, 139 ; progress of col- 
onization of, 188 ; arrival of Winthrop, 207 ; en- 
croachments of, on New Netherland, 255-262 ; 
patent surrendered, 259 ; scarcity in, 269 ; the 
Pequods in, 270-273 ; emigrations from, to New 
Netherland, 291 ; encroachments of, 293-300 ; 
designs of, on South River, 321 ; agents sent to 
England, 323 ; advice of Boswell to, 324 ; relig- 
ious intolerance in, 331-334 ; emigrations from, 
to New Netherland, 334, 335 ; temper of friends 
of, in England, 340 ; colonies in, form a union, 
351, 362 ; see United Colonies. ! 

New Gottenburg, fort built by Printz at Tinicum, 
379 ; De Vries at, 380 ; destroyed by fire, 423, 
424 ; Printz's conduct at, 427 ; called Katten- 
berg by the Dutch, 631. 

New Haerlem, village formed at, 041 ; incorpora- 
ted, 674 ; represented in Convention, 722 ; rep- 
resented in General Assembly, 729. 

New Haven founded, 294; obtains Yennecock, on 
Long Island, 300 ; attempts a plantation on the 
Delaware, 321 ; protests against Kieft's pro- 
ceedings, 338 ; commissioners of, 361 ; com- 
plains of the Dutch and Swedes on South Riv- 
er, 363 ; refuses to assist Now Netherland, 370 ; 
builds trading-house at Paugussett, 428 ; first 
meeting of commissioners at, 430 ; ship seized 
at, by Stuyvesant, 479 ; correspondence of Stuy- 
vesant with, 480, 481, 496, 500, 519 ; another ex- 
pedition of, to South River defeated by Stuyve- 
sant, 527 ; complains to the commissioners, 530 ; 
agent of, sent to New Amsterdam, 551 ; urges a 
war, 559; feeling at, against the Dutch, 565, 
566 ; zeal of, against the Dutch, 585 ; colonists 
from, at West Chester, 595 ; persecution of 
Quakers in, 636 ; Melyn in, 641 ; regicides shel- 
tered at, 695 ; magistrates of, visit New Am- 
sterdam, 696 ; conditions required by, and offer- 
ed to, as colonists, 696 ; protests against Con- 
necticut, 709 ; endeavors to engage Scott, 725. 

Sew Holland, Cape Cod so named by Hudson, 26 ; 
Block at, 58. 

New Jersey, grant of, to Berkeley and Carteret, 
736 ; named Albania by Nicolls, 745. 

D DD 



New Netherland named by the States General, 62, 
63, 91 ; included within charter of West India 
Company, 136 ; English complain of Dutch pos- 
session of, 140 ; Dutch title to, 144 ; made a 
Dutch province, 148 ; taken possession of by 
the West India Company, 149 ; cost of, 186 ; 
commissaries of, 187; charter for patroons in, 
187; provisions of its charter, 194-198; en- 
croachments of English, 255-262 ; of Swedes. 
282-284 ; the West India Company declines to 
surrender it to the States General, 285 ; trade 
in, made more free, 288 ; prosperity of, 290 ; 
further encroachments of the English, 293-301 ; 
new charter for patroons in, 311; Reformed 
Dutch Church established in, 312; Swedes in, 
319, 320 ; English views respecting, 323, 324; 
political affairs of, 327 ; emigrations from New 
England to, 331-335; Jesuits in, 346, 374, 402; 
ravaged by the Indians, 354, 364-372, 397-400 ; 
its affairs considered in Holland, 403 ; cost of, 
405 ; condition of, at end of Kieft's war, 410 ; 
new arrangements for, agreed upon, 413-416; 
'■ Mission of the Martyrs" in, 423 ; condition of, 
on Stuyvesant's arrival, 465 ; its claims defend- 
ed by Stuyvesant, 479, 497 ; memorial and re- 
monstrance of commonalty of, 504-507 ; provi- 
sional order for government of, 513-516 ; treaty 
of, with New England, 519 ; maritime superior- 
ity of, predicted, 547 ; critical condition of, 557, 
578, 582-585 ; hostilities against, relinquished, 
586 ; religious affairs in, 614-618 ; English claim 
of title to, 633, 634 ; foreign trade of, 656 ; ne- 
gotiations of, with Maryland, 666-669; with 
Massachusetts, 673 ; treaty of, with Virginia, 
683 ; new conditions offered to emigrants to, 
688, 696 ; part of its territory included in Con- 
necticut charter, 702 ; action of Connecticut re- 
specting, 703 ; persecution ceases in, 707 ; trade 
and commerce of, 715 ; Dutch title to, denied by 
Connecticut, 720 ; confirmed and asserted by 
the States General, 730 ; letter of States General 
to towns in, 730; population of, 734; granted 
by Charles II. to the Duke of York, 735 ; capitu- 
lation of, 742 ; re-named by Nicolls, 745 ; arti- 
cles of capitulation, 762. 

New Netherland, ship, 150, 153; great ship, built 
at Manhattan, 212, 215, 219 ; its cost complain- 
ed of, 286. 

New Plymouth, or Crane Bay, Block at, 58, 59, 
756; Smith and Dermer at, 133; landing of Pil- 
grims at, 133 ; progress of, 145, 171 ; corre- 
spondence of, with New Netherla»d, 173-181 ; 
De Rasieres at, 177 ; description of, 178 ; patent 
for, 208, 209 ; commences a settlement on the 
Connecticut, 238, 240, 241 ; troubled by Massa- 
chusetts emigrants, 260 ; assists Connecticut. 
271; called the "Old Colony," 130, 361, 530; 
commissioners of, 361 ; assents to the Hartford 
treaty, 519 ; declines to assist New Haven 
against the Dutch, 530 ; commissions Standish 



786 



INDEX. 



and Willett to act against them, 565; persecu- 
tion of Quakers in, 635. 

New Port May, 9V. 

New style introiluced into Holland, 443, note ; use 
of, enjoined in New Netherland, 412. 

New Sweden, colony of, established on South 
River, 281-284 ; progress of, 319-321 ; new ar- 
rangements for government of, 37S-380 ; ships 
from, arrested in Holland, 3b5 ; progress of, 
424-428 ; officers of, oppose the Dutch, 462-487, 
510, 511 ; visited by Stuyvesant, 528-530 ; new 
arrangements for government of, 577 ; hostile 
proceedings of officers of, 593, 594; ordered to 
be reduced under the Dutch, 601 ; expedition 
from New Amsterdam against, 603, 604 ; reduc- 
tion of, 605, 606 ; Dutch title to, maintained, 
621, 622. 

New Utrecht, lands purchased at, 537 ; one of the 
Five Dutch Towns, 560, note ; settlement of, 
693; charter for, 693; represented in Conven- 
tion, 722 ; Scolt at, 727 ; represented in General 
Assembly, 729 ; letter of States General to, 730 ; 
English squadron at, 738. 

New Year, sports at, prohibited, 611. 

New York harbor visited by Verazzano, 2 ; city 
of, named, 743 ; NicoUs' opinion of, 743. 

New York colonial manuscripts, 759. 

New York, Province of, named, 745. 

New World, papa! donation of the, to Spain, 1. 

Newark Bay visited by Colman, 28; called Ach- 
ter Cul, 313 ; see Hackinsack. 

Newfoundland discovered by Cabot, 2 ; visited by 
Gilbert, 5. 

Newman, Francis, sent as agent to New Amster- 
dam, 551-555. 

Newman, Thomas, a magistrate of Oost-dorp, 619. 

Newton, Captain Rryan, oncof Stuyvesant's coun- 
selors, 466 ; arrests Van Dincklagen, 526 ; signs 
letter to New England agents, 553 ; sent to 
West Chester, 618 ; sent to Oost-dorp, 625, 626 ; 
goes to Virginia and negotiates a treaty of trade, 
683. 

Newtown, 297, 333, 367, 389, 411, 536; see Mes- 
path and Middelburgh. 

NicoUs, Colonel Ricliard, appointed deputy gov- 
ernor for the Duke of York, 736 ; a royal com- 
missioner, 736 ; at Boston, 737 ; at Nyack Bay, 
738 ; summons Manhattan to surrender, 738 ; 
terms offi;red by, 739 ; reply of, to Dutch mes- 
sengers, 740 ; appoints commissioners and 
agrees to articles, 742 ; enters New Amsterdam, 
and is proclaimed governor, 743 ; his opinion of 
the city, 743 ; re-naincs New Netherland, 745. 

Niessen, Ensign Christiaen, sent to Wiltwyck, 

712 ; left in charge of garrison at, 714. 
Nine Men in Holland, 453 ; chosen in New Neth- 
erland, 474 ; their duties and term of office, 474, 
475 ; first meeting and action of, 476 ; propose 
measures of reform, 488. 489 ; suggest a dele- 
gation to Holland, 495 ; new election of, 495 ; 



consult the commonalty, 501 ; their memorial to 
the States General, 504 ; reforms demanded by, 
505 ; " Vertoogh'' or remonstrance of, 506, 507 ; 
proceedings in Holland respecting, 514, 515 ; 
write again to Holland, 518; complain again. 
521 ; not consulted on Van Dyck's supersedure, 
532. 

Nineteen, College of the, in tlie West India Com- 
pany, 135, 414. 

Ninigret, his account of Stuyvesant's treatment 
of him, 551 ; Stuyvesant's statement about, 554. 

Noble, William, of Flushing, case of, 637. 

Noblemen, the Dutch, 192, 193, 439, 440, 451, 454, 
455,461. 

Norman's Kill, near Albany, origin of name ol 
the, 81 ; on Long Island, 693. 

North River, Verazzano at the mouth of, 2 ; ex- 
ploration of, by Hudson, 27-34 ; called River of 
the Mountains, 35; Mauritius River, 45, 229; 
Cahohatatea and Shatemuc, 72 ; called North 
River, 79 ; De Vries' opinion of, 307 ; declared 
to be free, 521 ; English refused the right of free 
navigation of, 655, 673 ; reaches or racks in, 757. 

Northern Company, the Dutch, 59, 65. 

Northern passage, attempts of the Dutch to ex- 
plore, 22, 24, 45. 

Norwalk, settlement at, 294, 296. 

Notelman, Conrad, appointed sellout, 213; his 
conduct, 236 ; succeeded by Van Dincklagen, 
247. 

Nutten, or Governor's Island, cattle landed at. 
159; purchased by Van Twiller, 267; savages 
at, 607 ; English squadron at, 74.0. 

Nyack, near Gravesend, lands purchased at, 537 • 
English squadron anchors at bay of, 738 

Ogden, .John, builds church at Manhattan, 336 : .i 
patentee of Hecmstede, 387, 388. 

Ogden, Richard, builds church at Manhattan, 3S6. 

Ogehage, or Minquas, 73, 78, 757. 

Oiogu6, Indian name for the Mauritius River, 422. 

Old Colony of New England, New Plymouth call- 
ed the, 130, 189, 361, 530. 

Old Dominion, Virginia the, of United States, 12. 

Oldham, John, goes from Boston overland to the 
Connecticut, 239 ; is murdered by the Pequods, 
269. 

Olfertsen, .lacob, accompanies De Vries to Rock- 
away, 358. 

Ompoge, or Amboy, purchase of, 537. 

Oneidas, 69, 83 ; desire religious instruction, 644 . 
see Iroquois. 

Oneugiour6, or Caughnawaga, Father .logues at, 
423 ; see Caughnawaga. 

Onondagas, Champlain among, 69-71 ; Atotartio, 
chief of, 83, 84 ; friendly toward the French, 
591; visited by Father Le Moyne, 592; sail 
springs discovered, 592 ; Chaunionot and Da 
blon among, 612 ; mission at, 643-645 ; aban- 
doned, 646 ; revisited by Father Le Moyne, 704. 



INDEX. 



787 



Ontario, Lake, Cliamplain on, 68, 71 ; Father Pon- 
cet on, 564 ; Father Le Moyne on, 591 ; Chaumo- 
not and Dablon on, 612, 644, 646. 

Oost-dorp incorporated, 619; affairs at, 626, 627; 
declared to be annexed to Connecticut, 703 ; au- 
thority of Connecticut enforced, 709 ; surrender- 
ed by Stuyvesant, 723, 724 ; letter of States 
General to, 730, 733 ; see West Chester. 

Oothout, Ffob, signs capitulation of New Amstel 
to the English, 744. 

Orange, William I., Prince of Nassau and, 19, 101, 
440, 442, 444, 445 ; assassination of, 446 ; monu- 
ment to, 185; Philip, Prince of, 109; Maurice, 
Prince of, 39, 107-111, 440; memorial of Puri- 
tans to, 124-126, 133 ; death of, 160, 434 ; Fred- 
erick Henry, Prince of, stadtholder, 160 ; death 
of, 434 ; William II., Prince of, 434 ; brother-in- 
law of Charles II., 498 ; death of, 542 ; William 
III., Prince of, 543 ; King of England, 446. 

Orange, Fort, built, 149, 151 ; see Fort Orange. 

Orange Tree, ship, 148 ; arrested at Plymouth, 156. 

Ordinance, general, for the encouragement of 
Dutch discovery, 60. 

Oritany, chief of the Hackinsacks, 359, 608; me- 
diates with the Esopus Indians, 677 ; gives land 
to Mevrouw Kierstede, 731, note. 

Orson and Valentine, 46, 66. 

Oswego River, or Osh-wah-kee, 63, 564. 

O.xenstierna, Axel, Count of, publishes charter of 
Swedish West India Company, 284 ; signs com- 
missions for New Sweden, 319 ; death of, 622. 

Oyster Bay, on Long Island, limit of Dutch set- 
tlements, 297 ; declared to be the boundary, 519 ; 
English settlement at, 595 ; protest of the Dutch 
against, 598 ; fort ordered to be built at, 622 ; 
annexed to Connecticut, 703 ; name of, changed, 
783 ; in combination with English villages, 726. 

Paanpaack, or Troy, purchase of, 534. 

Pacham, chief of the Haverstraws, at Manhattan, 
315 ; required to surrender the murderer of Van 
Voorst, 348 ; incites the River Indians against 
the Dutch, 364 ; his surrender demanded, 392. 

Pachami, tribe of, 74, 757. 

Paconthetuck, Fort, Mohawks murdered at, 733. 

Painters, eminent, in Holland, 400. 

Panhoosic, purchase of, 534. 

Panton, Richard, threatens Midwout, 719, 720. 

Papal donation of New World to Spain, 1, 4, 240. 

Papequanaehen, Esopus chief, killed, 713. 

Paper, manufacture of, in Holland, 459. 

Papirinemin, or Spyt den Duyvel, 421. 

Pappegoya, John, temporary commander of New 
Sweden, 577 ; relieved by Rising, 593 ; his con- 
duct on the South River, 620. 

Parchment figurative map, 755, 756. 

Paris documents, 759. 

Passachynon, great chief of the Nevesincks, 724. 

Passayunk sachems invite the Dutch, 482. 

Patrick, Captain Daniel, assists in the Pequod 



war, 272 ; settles at Greenwich, 294 ; required 
to submit to the Dutch, 296 ; submits, 331 ; de- 
mands protection against the savages, 366 ; is 
murdered by a Dutch soldier, 387. 

Patriotism of the Dutch, 464. 

Patroons, charter of privileges for, 187, 194-199 ; 
buy lands in New Netherland, 200-205 ; at vari- 
ance with the directors, 213; their "claim and 
demand," 247 ; South River, surrender Swaan- 
endael, 249 ; Pauw surrenders Pavonia and 
Staten Island, 268 ; consequences of patroons' 
charter, 286 ; demand new privileges, 267 ; juris- 
diction of, 304, 305 ; new charter for, 311, 312; 
consequences of, 313 ; orders of, for Rensselaers- 
wyck, 341 ; mercantile policy of, 376, 377, 390 ; 
claim staple right, 400-402, 419 ; quarrels be- 
tween officers of, and provincial government, 
491-494, 510, 522, 528, 531 ; further disagree- 
ments, 533-536 ; complaints of, to the States 
General, 562 ; grant licenses to sail to Florida, 
&c., 563 ; further disagreements, 623, 624 ; ar- 
rangement of difficulty, 649 ; the company tired 
of, 692 ; see Beverwyck, Fort Orange, Renssel- 
aerswyck. 

Paugussett, New Haven trading-house at, 426, 
480. 

Paulusen, Michael, commissary at Pavonia, 223, 
236. 

Paulus' Hook, 203, 223 ; conveyed to the company, 
268 ; Planck buys land at, 279 ; Van der Bill 
killed at, 509 ; see Pavonia. 

Pauw, Michael, 148 ; buys Pavonia and Staten 
Island, 202, 203 ; Paulusen his commissary at 
Pavonia, 223, 236 ; sends out Van Voorst, 263 ; 
conveys his rights to Staten Island and Pavonia 
to the company, 268. 

Pavonia purchased by Pauw, 203 ; officers at, 223. 
236, 263 ; conveyed to the company, 268 ; Planck 
at, 279 ; Bout at, 351 ; massacre of savages at, 
352, 353 ; surprised by the savages, 368 ; repre- 
sented in the Nine Men, 474 ; laid waste by the 
savages, 607. 

Peddlers, or Scotch merchants, 489, 628. 

Peelen, Brandt, 244 ; large crops raised on his isl- 
and, 302, 341. 

Pelagius, opposes Saint Augustine, 99. 

Pell, Thomas, at West Chester, 595, 618; his dis- 
agreement with the savages, 627 ; authorized 
by Connecticut to buy land, 733. 

Pels, Evert, magistrate of Wiltwyck, 690. 

Pemmenatta, chief on the South River, 529. 

Penobscot, 8, 13 ; Hudson at, 26 ; Mohawks at, 
and on the Kennebeck, 87, 704, 733. 

Pensionary, Grand, of Holland, 449, 451, 452. 

Pequods convey land to the Dutch, 235 ; treaty 
with Massachusetts, 242, 256 ; exasperated, at- 
tack Saybrook and Welhersfield, 270 ; attacked 
and exterminated by the English, 271, 272. 

Persecution, religious, 614, 617, 626, 635-639, 6S9, 
705 ; ceases, 707. 



INDEX. 



Peters, Hugh, of Rotterdam, at Boston, 260, 261 ; 
goes to England, 323 ; commissioned to negoti- 
ate with Dutoh West India Company, 324, 340 ; 
executed, 702. 

Petuquapaen, 296; see Greenwich. 

Philadelpliia, site of, occupied by the Dutch, 426 ; 
difficulties with the Swedes in consequence, 
427, 428. 

Philip, Prince of Orange, 109; see Spain. 

Pietersen, Abraham, one of the Eight Men, 365. 

Pietersen, Evert, Ziecken-trooster at New Am- 
stel, 631 ; deacon of cliureh at, 633. 

Pietersen, Jan, magistrate of New Haerlem, 675. 

Pilgrims, the, sail from Plymouth, 128 ; their des- 
tination, 129; at Cape Cod, 130; compact on 
board the Mayflower, 131, 132; land at New 
Plymouth, 133 ; see Puritans. 

Pirates, English, in Long Island Sound, 565, 578; 
measures against, 579. 

Plancius, Peter, of Amsterdam, 23, 45, 138. 

Planck, or Verplanck, Abram, buys land at Pa- 
vonia, 279; one of the Twelve Men, 317 ; signs 
petition to Kieft urging war, 350 ; buys land on 
South River, 425 ; to be sent to the Hague, 514. 

Planck, Jacob Albertsen, schout of Rensselaers- 
wyck, 244. 

Plantagenet's "New Albion," 140, 382, 485, 754. 

Plantations, council for, at London, 257, 686 ; in- 
structions of, respecting colonial trade, 702 ; 
views of, respecting the Dutch province, 725 ; 
directs enforcement of Navigation Law, 735. 

Plockhoy, Pieter Cornelis, leader of the Mennon- 
ist colony on the Horekill, 698, 699 ; colony of, 
plundered by the English, 745. 

Plowden, Sir Edmund, his patent for New Albion, 
381 ; visits the South River and Manhattan, 381, 
3S2 ; again at Manhattan, 484; publication of 
Plantagenet's " New Albion," 485, 754. 

Plymouth Company, 11-lS, 91 ; New, 95, 96, 127, 
138, 140, 188, 208, 211 ; dissolved, 259. 

Point Judith, or Wapanoos' Point, Block at, 58, 
756 ; called Cape Cod by Stuyvesant, 497. 

Pokeepsie, origin of its name, 75. 

Polhemus, Domine Johannes Theodorus, at Mid- 
wout, Brcuckelen, and Amersfoort, 581, 615 ; 
succeeded at Breuckelen by Selyns, 681. 

Police regulations, Kieft's, 277, 278, 292, 314, 335, 
386, 392 ; Stuyvesant's, 466, 487-490, 517, 548 ; 
see New Amsterdam. 

PollepeFs Island, 75, 758. 

Poncet, Father Joseph, captured by the Mohawks, 
and relieved by the Dutch, 564 ; at Onondaga, 
564. 

Pont Gravii in Canada, 16 ; at Port Royal, 17. 

Popham, Chief Justice, 10, 12; his death, 14. 

Popham, George, at Sagadahoc, 13 ; his death, 14. 

Popular spirit of the Twelve Men, 326 ; of the 
Eight Men, 396 ; of the Nine Men, 501, 505 ; of 
the conventions, 573, 575, 722, 729. 

Population of Holland, 19, 456, 457. 



! Population of Manhattan, 150, 151, 159, 170, 183 ; 
of New Plymouth, 208 ; of Manhattan, 373 ; of 
Beverwyck, 374 ; of New England, 407 ; of Man- 
hattan, 410 ; of New Netherland, 465 ; of New 
Amsterdam, 548, 623 ; of Staten Island, 607 ; of 
New Amstel, 653 ; of Breuckelen, 680 ; of Staten 
Island, 692 ; of Boswyck, 693 ; of New Amster- 
dam, 734 ; of New Netherland, 734. 

Pory, John, his explorations, 249. 

Pos, Adriaen, superintendent at Staten Island, 
525 ; captured and released, 607, 608. 

Pos, Simon Dircksen, counselor, 164. 

Possession, actual, the English doctrine, 4, 5, 141, 
143, 144. 

Poutrincourt at Port Royal, 16, 17. 

Powelson, Jacob, at the South River, 319, 320. 

President of Long Island towns, John Scott chos- 
en, 726. 

Press, liberty of the, in Holland, 459. 

Preummaker, Esopus chief, killed, 676. 

Princess, loss of the ship, 472, 473. 

Pring, Martin, on coasts of Maine, 8. 

Printing, invention of, in Holland, 461. 

Printz, John, appointed governor of New Sweden, 
378 ; arrives at Fort Christina, 379 ; entertains 
De Vries, 380 ; his treatment of Plowden, 381 ; 
of Lamberton, 382, 383 ; of the English adven- 
turers from Boston, 384 ; his good manage- 
ment of the fur trade, 423 ; his negotiations 
with Hudde, 424 ; endeavors to set the In- 
dians against the Dutch, 425 ; protests against 
Hudde's purchase of the site of Philadelphia, 
426 ; his brutal conduct, 427 ; continues to an- 
noy the Dutch, 482-487 ; opposes their purchases 
of lands, 510, 512 ; is visited by Stuyvesant, 528 ; 
intrigues with the savages, 529 ; protests against 
building of Fort Casimir, 529 ; returns to Swe- 
den, 570, 577. 

Prisoners, Indian, enslaved in New England, 272 ; 
talien by the Dutch, 387 ; atrocities against, 389 ; 
sent to Bermuda, 396 ; Dutch, taken by the sav- 
ages, at Staten Island, 607, 608 ; at Esopus, 
658 ; release of some of, 661 ; taken by the 
Dutch at Esopus, 675 ; sent to Cura? oa, 677 ; 
remembered by their brethren, 710 ; Dutch taken 
by Esopus savages, 711 ; recovered, 713, 714, 
731. 

Privileges, charter of, 194, 311 ; see Patroons. 

Privy Council, letter of, to Carleton, 140, 141 , 216 ; 
arrests Dutch ship, 156 ; committees of, for 
foreign plantations, 257, 259, 686, 702, 725, 735. 

Proclamations, translation of, into French and 
English, 640. 

Prosperity of the Dutch, 456. 

Protestant E])iscopaI Church in America, 119. 

Protestant Reformed Dutch Church in America, 
119, 312, 374, 535, 609, 614, 617, 706, 748. 

Provisional order for the government of New 
Netherland proposed, 513, 514 ; opposed by the 
Amsterdam Chamber, 515 ; disregarded by Stuy- 



INDEX. 



789 



vesant, 517 ; continued opposition to, of Am- 
sterdam Chamber, 539 ; assented to, 540. 

Provoost, David, tobacco inspector at Manhattan, 
292 ; commissary at Fort Good Hope, 363 ; his 
conduct at, complained of by the commi.ssioners 
of New England, 429 ; defended by Kieft, 430 ; 
proposed as a commissioner with agents, 552 ; 
first schout of Breuckelen, 580 ; succeeded by 
Tonneman, 560, note. 

Provoost, Johannes, secretary at Fort Orange, 625. 

Purchas, Samuel, his "Pilgrims," 157. 

Puritans, English, 112-114; in Holland, 115, 116 
dissatisfied there, 120 ; resolve to emigrate, 121 
their patent from the Virginia Company, 122 
propose to go to New Netherland, 123, 124 ; ap- 
plication to Dutch government, 125, 126; leave 
Leyden, 127; sail from Plymouth, 128; their 
destination, 129 ; at Cape Cod, 130 ; compact 
on board the Mayflower, 131, 132 ; land at New 
Plymouth, 133; settlers at, 145; first inter- 
course of, with the Dutch, 171-181 ; at Salem, 
188-190; at Boston, 208 ; in Connecticut, 241 ; 
at New Haven, 294 ; in New Netherland, 334. 
388, 411, 505, 553, 573, 595, 615, 627 ; conditions 
offered to, 688, 696, 708 ; see New Plymouth, 
Massachusetts, Connecticut, Hartford, New 
Haven. 

Pynchon, John, a commissioner on the English 
side, 742, 763. 

Pynchon, William, settles at Springfield, 261, 262; 
his opinion of the Mohawks, 496. 

Pye Bay, or Nahant Bay, the northern limit of 
New Netherland, 58, 59. 

Quakers, people called, in England, 635 ; perse- 
cuted in New England, 635 ; come to New Am- 
sterdam, 636; proclamation against, 637; on 
Long Island, 637, 639 ; at Communipa, 643 ; 
persecuted again, 689 ; progress of, on Long 
Island, 705 ; persecution of, ceases, 707. 

Quarantine regulations of Connecticut, 710. 

Quebec founded, 18 ; missionary college at, 344. 

Quillipeage River, 293 ; see New Haven. 

Quotenis, Island, in Narragansett Bay, 268. 

Raccoon Creek, lands near, purchased, 511, 529. 

Racks, or reaches, in North River, 759. 

Raleigh, Sir Walter, his patent, 5 ; his execution, 
6 ; his observations on the Dutch, 98, 458. 

Raleigh, city of, founded, 6. 

Rancocus Creek, lands purchased at, 511. 

Rapelje, Joris, or George, at the Waal-bogt, 154, 
267, 268 ; one of the Twelve Men, 317. 

Rapelje, Sarah, first child born in New Nether- 
land, 154, 268. 

Raritan, minerals found at the, 412, 431 ; great 
meadows bought, 537 ; proposed Puritan colony 
at the, 696, 707, 708 ; English party at the, 724. 

Raritan savages, 73 ; hostile to the Dutch, 245 ; 
accused of excesses, 309 ; e.xpedition against, 



310 ; attack Staten Island, 315 ; rewards oflTercd 
for heads of, 315 ; at war with the Dutch, 354 ; 
minerals found near, 412, 431 ; lands bought 
from, for Van de Capellen, 525 ; by Van WercK- 
hoven, 537 ; murder a family at Mespath Kill, 
657 ; colony near, proposed, 707. 

Rasieres, Isaac de, provincial secretary, 164 ; 
writes to Bradford, 173 ; visits New Plymouth, 
176-180 ; returns to Holland and writes letter 
to Blommaert, 186, 200. 

Rattle watch at New Amsterdam, 640. 

Reaches, or racks, in the North River, 759. 

Records, Albany colonial, 275, 759. 

Records of New Amsterdam, 488, 549, 761. 

Red Mount, or New Haven, first meeting of com- 
missioners at, 430. 

Reformation, the, in Holland and England, 99-119. 

Reformed Protestant Dutch Church, 100-119 ; 
established in New Netherland, 312, 374, 535, 
609, 614, 617, 706, 748. 

Regicides, Stuyvesant asked to deliver them up, 
695. 

Reintsen, Jacob, his case, 490. 

Rekenkamcr, the Dutch National, 450. 

Rekenkamer, or Bureau of Accounts, report of the 
West India Company's, on New Netherland af- 
fairs, 404-406. 

Religions and languages, diversity of, in New 
Netherland, 374, 749. 

Remonstrance, or Vertoogh, of New Netherland, 
506, 507, 512. 

Remund, Jan van, succeeds De Rasieres as pro- 
vincial secretary, 212, 223, 236 ; succeeded by 
Van Tienhoven, 276. 

Rensselaer, Jeremias van, director of Rensselaers- 
wyck, 649 ; a delegate to the General Provincial 
Assembly, 729 ; required by Nicolls to produce 
his papers and obey Cartwright, 743. 

Rensselaer, Johannes van, patroon, 420, 491 ; ac- 
quires Katskill and Claverack, 510 ; his claims 
denied by the company, 521 ; trading licenses 
of, 523 ; more land purchased for, 534 ; commis- 
sions Swart as schout, 535. 

Rensselaer, John Baptist van, takes burgher's 
oath at Beverwyck, 531 ; succeeds Van Slech- 
tenhorst as director, 535 ; signs letter to New 
England agents, 553 ; opposes Stuyvesant, 591 ; 
protests against Stuyvesant's conduct, 623 ; is 
fined, 624 ; succeeded by his brother Jeremias, 
649. 

Rensselaer, Kiliaen van, 148 ; obtains land at Fort 
Orange, 201 ; shares his estate with other di- 
rectors, 204 ; buys more land, 267 ; commissions 
Van der Donck, 341 ; agrees with Megapolensis, 
342 ; sends present to Kieft, 343 ; his mercan- 
tile system, 376, 377 ; an.\ious to acquire Kats- 
kill, 378 ; his ship seized at Manhattan by Kiefl, 
390 ; claims staple right for Rensselaer's Stein. 
400 ; his claim denied, 401 ; death of, 420 ; suc- 
ceeded by his son Johannes, 420. 



INDEX. 



Rensselaer's Stein, 400 ; claim of staple right de- 
nied to, 401, 402, 510, 521. 
Rensselaerswyck, first colonists sent to, 201 ; its 
extent, 202 ; estate divided, 204 ; progress of, 
266 ; addition to, 267 ; slow progress of, 279 ; 
abundance in, 303; government and jurispru- 
dence of, 304, 305 ; colonists supply Mohawks 
with fire-arms, 308 ; church planned at, 343 ; 
built, 374 ; patroons trading licenses, 376, 377 ; 
ship for, seized, 390 ; free traders at, 400 ; sta- 
ple right claimed for, and denied, 401, 402; 
escapes the effects of war, 410 ; new patroon of, 
420 ; trade in fire-arms at, 491 ; dispute about 
jurisdiction of, 492-494 ; pretensions of patroons 
rebuked by West India Company, 521, 522 ; 
Beverwyck declared independent of, 535 ; John 
Baptist van Rensselaer director, and Gerrit 
Swart schout, 535 ; Reformed religion to be 
maintained in, 535; represented at Manhattan, 
552, 553 ; affairs of, considered in Holland, 562, 
563; excises at, 591, 610, 623, 624; Jeremias 
van Rensselaer director of, 649 ; jurisdiction of 
West India Company over, 679 ; delegates from, 
at General Assembly, 729; surrender of, 743, 
744 ; see Fort Orange and Beverwyck. 
Representation, principle of, 132, 326, 473, 474. 
Republic, the Dutch, 435-447 ; its system of ad- 
ministration, 448-455 ; results of system, 455- 
464, 750. 
Requesens introduces the new style in Holland, 

443. 
Residence required from citizens, 489, 628, 094, 749. 
Restless, yacht, built at Manhattan, 55 ; explores 
Long Island Sound, 56-59; in the Delaware, 
78, 79, 758. 
Revenue of New Netherland, 186, 218, 224, 231 ; 
regulations respecting, 196, 213, 218, 236, 277, 
288, 293, 312; not equal to expenditures, 405, 
685, 729; new regulations, 406, 416, 466, 467, 
479, 490, 540, 656, 694. 
Rhode Island, the Dutch at, 58 ; their trade at, 
145, 171, 174, 209 ; Dutch post at, 208 ; founded 
by Roger Williams, 332 ; Anne Hutchinson re- 
moves from, 334 ; not included in New England 
confederation, 361 ; claimed as part of New 
Netherland, 479, 497 ; Underbill at, 556 ; com- 
missions Dyer and Underbill to act against the 
Dutch, 557 ; refuses to persecute Quakers, 636. 
Rising, .lohn, appointed deputy governor of New 
Sweden, 577 ; at the South River, 593 ; captures 
Fort Casimir, 593 ; declines to visit Stuyve- 
sant at New Amsterdam, 594 ; surrenders Fort 
Christina, 605 ; at New Amsterdam, 608 ; re- 
turns to Europe, 609. 
River of the Mountains, 35, 37, 44. 
River Indians, the, 72-77 ; offended at the Dutch, 
308,309; refuse to pay tribute to, 310; attack- 
ed by the Mohawks, 349 ; by the Dutch, 352 ; 
aroused to vengeance, 354 ; attack Dutch boats, 
364 ; continued hostility of, 393 ; peace with. 



408,409; invadeNew Amsterdam. 000-610; ser 
Esopus. 

Roberval in Canada, 3. 

Robinson, John, 115 ; his application to the Dutci., 
125 ; remains at Leyden, 127. 

Rochelle, Frenchmen from, come to New Nether- 
land, 730; settle on Staten Island, 731. 

Rockaway, or Rechqua-akie, savages from, on 
Manhattan, 349 ; De Vries and Olfertsen at, 353 
treaty with savages of, 359, 407, 408. 

Rodolf, Sergeant, ordered to attack savages at 
Pavonia, 351 ; executes his orders, 352. 

Roelandsen, Adam, first schoolmaster, 223. 

Roelof Jansen's Kill, 77, 266, note. 

Roesen, Jan Hendricksen, commissary at Fort 
Good Hope, 296. 

Roman Catholics in Holland, 101, 102, 458; mo- 
tives for their emigration from England, 251 ; 
in Maryland, 253 ; in New Netherland, 345, 374, 
402, 423, 564, 592, 012, 616, 644-647, 749. 

Rondout, or Ronduit, 76, 302, 306, 647, 710, 756 ; 
arrangement for trade at, 731 ; garrison left at, 
738. 

Roodenberg, 56, 294 ; see New Haven. 

Roose, Elbert Heymans, magistrate of Wiltwyck, 
690. 

Root, Simon, at Mast-maker's Point, 486 ; at Ran- 
cocus, 511. 

Royal conunissioners to New England, 736. 

Royalists, intolerance of, at restoration, 687. 

Russia, trade of the Dutch with, 43, 99. 

Rustdorp, or Jamaica, incorporated, 019 ; Quak- 
ers at, 637, 638, 689 ; new magistrates for, 699 ; 
Domine Drisius at, 689 ; orders of Connecticut 
to, 703 ; Talcott and Christie at, 719 ; petitions 
Connecticut, 719 ; name of, changed, 723 ; meet- 
ing-house at, 724 ; party from, at the Raritan. 
724 ; forms combination, 720 ; conditional ar- 
rangement at, 727 ; letter of States General to, 
730, 733. 

Ruyter, Admiral Michael de, 546. 

Ruyter, Kloes de, about a copper mine at Minni- 
sinck, 662 ; Indian interpreter, 677. 

Ruytcrgeld, or militia rate in Holland, 436. 

Ruyven, Cornells van, appointed provincial sec- 
retary, 561 ; sent to arrange affairs at Oost- 
dorp, 626, 627 ; on tlie South River, 666 ; blamed 
by Alrichs, 670 ; sent on embassy to Hartford. 
720, 721 ; meets Scott at Jamaica, 729 ; sent with 
letter to NicoUs, 740. 

Sabbath breaking forbidden, 406. 

Sachem's Head, origin of name of, 272. 

Sagadahoc, or Ken nebeck, Weymouth at the, 9. 
colony at, 12; vessel built at, 14; abandoned, 
15, 64, 90, 144 ; Mohawks at, 682, 704. 

Sager's Kill, 756; party sent to, 713, 714. 

Saint Augustine, 99. 

Saint Beninio, seizure of ship, 478, 479, 496, 500, 
519. 



INDEX. 



791 



Saint Lawrence discovered and named by Car- 
tier, 3 ; French on the, 18, 345, "56 ; vessel from 
New Amsterdam wrecked in the, 646. 

Saint Mary's of Genentaha, 644. 

Saint Mary's, in Maryland, 253. 

Saint Saerement, Lac du, 18, 77 ; named by Fa- 
ther Jogues, 422. 

Salem founded, 188, 189; intolerance at, 190. 

Salt springs at Onondaga discovered by Father 
Le Moyne, 592, 612, 644, 645. 

Salt works on Coney Island, 694. 

Sandy Hook, Hudson at, 27 ; called Colman's 
Point, 28 ; plum-trees on, 237, note. 

Sanhikans, or Sangicans, 74, 757. 

Sankikans, or Stankekana, 73, 378, 425, 757. 

Santickan, or Sankikan, 282, 378, 425. 

Sassacus, his scalp sent to Boston, 272. 

Savages, tribes of, in New Netherland, 72-78, 81- 
88 i intercourse with, 168, 169, 170, 232, 307 ; 
supplied with fire-arms, 306, 308, 345, 349 ; gen- 
eral rising of, against the Dutch near Manhat- 
tan, 354, 369 ; number of, killed, 409 ; no fire- 
arms to be sold to, 293, 406, 415, 490, 492 ; nor 
liquors, 466, 488 ; to be sparingly supplied with 
arms, 503, 562 ; employment of, suggested, 547, 
555, 677 ; invade New Amsterdam, 607 ; lay 
waste Dutch settlements, 607, 608 ; Long Island, 
profess friendship, 610 ; outrages of, at Esopus, 
647 ; of the Dutch against, 658 ; agree that the 
Dutch should instruct their children, 675 ; pris- 
oners taken at Esopus sent to Curagoa, 676 ; 
see Esopus, Mohawks. 

Say and Seal, Lord, a grantee of Connecticut, 211, 
259, 261 ; his letter to Joachimi, 340 ; on Planta- 
tion Committee, 686. 

Saybrook, fort built at, 261 ; attacked by the Pe- 
quods, 270 ; fort completed. 294 ; Lion Gardiner 
removes from, 297. 

Sayre, Job, 298, 299, 300. 

Schaats, Domine Gideon, clergyman at Renssel- 
aerswyck, 538, 615 ; new church built for, 624, 
625 ; annoyed by Lutherans, 681. 

Schaenhechstede, or Schenectady, purchase of, 
691 ; surveyed, 732. 

Schaick, Colonel Van, his expedition to Onondaga, 
69, note. 

Schelluyne, Dirck van, notary public, 516 ; op- 
pressed by Stuyvesant, 526 ; appointed high 
constable of New Amsterdam, 597 ; secretary 
of Rensselaerswyck, 729 ; a delegate to General 
Assembly at New Amsterdam, 729. 
Schepens in Holland, 327, 453 ; desired for New 
Netherland, 327, 400, 505; granted, 514, 540, 
541, 548 ; see Burgomasters. 
Schermerhorn, Jacob, his case, 490. 
Scheyichbi, Indian name for New Jersey, 89. 
Schonowe, great flat of, 660, 691. 
Schools, public, established in Holland, 462, 463 ; 
in New Netherland, 196, 223, 313, 476, 506, 508, 
514, 516, 538, 616, 632, 640, 641, 056, 694, 748. 



Sehout in Holland, 453, 454. 

Schout in New Netherland, 163, 213, 236, 266, 292. 
414, 532, 541, 622. 

Schout of New Amsterdam, instructions for, 541 
Van Tienhoven appointed as, 548 ; burghers de- 
mand right to choose, 567 ; Kuyter appointed, 
587 ; Van Tienhoven continued as, 588 ; De Sille 
appointed as, 623 ; continued as, 640 ; Tonne- 
man appointed, 674. 

Schout's Bay, or Cow Bay, lands near, purchased, 
290 ; emigrants from Lynn at, 298, 299 ; expedi- 
tion sent to, 389 ; sachem of, at Manhattan, 392. 

Schute, Swen, conduct of, at the Schuylkill, 4S6 ; 
Swedish commandant at Fort Trinity, 593 ; sur- 
renders to Stuyvesant, 604. 

Schuyler, Philip Pietersen, threatened by Dyck- 
man at Beverwyck, 533. 

Schuylkill, Hendricksen at the, 78, 757 ; Armen- 
veruis, on, purchased by Dutch, 232, 485 ; En- 
glish settlement at, 322 ; broken up, 338 ; further 
purchase at, 426 ; the Dutch invited to, 482 ; 
Fort Beversrede built at, 483, 485, 487 ; Mast- 
maker's Point, on the, 486. 

Scotch merchants, or peddlers, at New Amster- 
dam, 489, 628. 

Scott, John, arrested and examined, 579 ; his con- 
duct on Long Island, 671 ; at London, 725 ; re- 
turns to Long Island, 726 ; president of com- 
bined towns, 726 ; makes conditional arrange- 
ment at Jamaica, 727 ; his agreement at Ileem- 
stede with Stuyvesant, 728 ; imprisoned by 
Connecticut, 733. 

Scott, Joseph, of Heemstede, case of, 639. 

Seal, provincial, of New Netherland, 148 ; and 
coat of arms of New Amsterdam, 596, 597. 

Sectarianism dreaded by Dutch clergy, 643 ; new 
proclamation against, 706 ; rebuked, 707. 

Self-government, principle of, in Holland, 192, 
326, 447-456. 

Selyns, Domine Henricus, installed at Breuckelen, 
680 ; at the dirsctor's bouwery, 681 ; revisits 
Holland, 734 ; returns to N. York, 734, 119, note. 

Senecas, tribe of the, 82, 83 ; Chaumonot among 
the, 644 ; conference of, with Stuyvesant, 679. 
680 ; beaver trade of the Dutch with, 732. 

Sentences of provincial courts not to be executed 
in Holland, 478. 

Sequeen, chief of Pyquaug, or Wethersfield, 233 ; 
assents to sale of land to the Dutch, 235. 

Sequins visited by Block, 56 , chief of the, in.- 
prisoned by Eelkens, 146, 152, 168. 

Setauket, on Long Island, settled, 671 ; annexed 
to Connecticut, 703 ; Scott a commissioner at, 
726. 

Sewackenamo, chief of Esopus savages, 731. 

Sewan, or wampum, 172, 180 ; its value fixed and 
regulated, 314, 328, 329, 517. 

Sewan-hacky, 73, 172 ; see Long Island. 

Shackama.Kon, Penn's treaty at, 164. 

Shatemuc, Mahican name for North River, 72, note. 



r92 



INDEX. 



Shawan-gunk, mountains, 75, note ; Indian forts 
at, destroyed, 712, 713; ceded to the Dutch, 731. 

Shawmut, Indian name of Boston, 208. 

Ship, great, built at Manhattan, 212, 215, 219, 286. 

Sicktew-hacky, or Fire Island Bay, 290; ship- 
wreck at, 632. 

Sille, Nicasius de, appointed first counselor of 
New Netherland, 561 ; superintends expedition 
for the South River, 603 ; accompanies Stuyve- 
sant thither, 604 ; appointed schout-flscal in 
place of Van Tienhoven, 622 ; made city schout, 
,623 ; continued as, 640 ; succeeded by Tonne- 
man, 674 ; a proprietary of New Utrecht, 693 ; 
sent to protect the Dutch villages, 723. 

Silver fleet, Spanish, taken by Heyn, 184. 

Silver mine supposed to be at Hoboken, 34, note; 
in Katskill Mountains, 531. 

SInt-Sings, 74 ; treaty with, 409. 

Skanektad6, or Albany, 81. 

Slavery in New Netherland, 196, 197, 312, 396, 
406, 415, 540, 656, 697, 746, 748 ; in New En- 
gland, Virginia, and Maryland, 272, 362, 429. 

Slechtenhorst, Brandt van, appointed commissary 
of Rensselaerswyck,420; stubbornness of, 491 ; 
his difficulties with Stuyvesant, 491-494 ; ac- 
quires Katskill and Claverack for his patroon, 
610 ; explains, 522 ; is arrested and detained at 
New Amsterdam, 528 ; escapes, 531 ; sends to 
explore Katskill Mountains, 531 ; purchases 
Paanpaack and Panhoosic, 534 ; is succeeded 
by John Baptist van Rensselaer, 535. 

Slechtenhorst, Gerrit van, his adventures at Kats- 
kill, 531 ; is assaulted at Beverwyck, 533 ; a dele- 
gate to General Assembly, 729. 

Sleght, Cornells Barentsen, magistrate of Wilt- 

wyck, 690. 
Sloup Bay, the western entrance of Narragansett, 
or Nassau Bay, 57 ; Magaritinne, chief of, 235 ; 
Miantonomoh, great sachem of, 347. 
Sluys, Hans den, purchases the Kievit's Hook for 

he Dutch, 234. 
Slyck, Cornells Antonissen van, 306 ; obtains pat- 
ent for Katskill, 421. 
Small-pox at Beverwyck, 710. 
Smceman, Ilemianus, magistrate of Bergen, 691 ; 

a delegate to General Assembly, 729. 
Smid's, or Smit's Vleyc, ships repaired at, 203 ; 

hand-board for vessels at, 490. 
Smit, Ensign Dirck, summons Swedes to sur- 
render, 604 ; left in command on South River, 
606 ; sent again with re-enforcement, 621 ; in 
command of garrison at Esopus, 651 ; his au- 
thority disregarded, 658 ; captures Indian Fort 
Wiltinect, 675 ; defeats savages at Kit Davit's 
Kill, 676. 
Smith, Richard, an associate with Doughty at 

Mespath, 333 ; complain.s of him, 411. 
Smith, Captain John, in Virginia, 12, 24 ; returns 
to England, 49; in New England, 64, 91 ; his 
book and map, 92. 



Smits, Claes (the wheel -wright), murdered at Deu- 

tel Bay, 316. 
Snedekor, Jan, a patentee of Flatbush, 536. 
Soldiers asked for from Holland, 181 ; first sent to 

New Netherland, 223. 
Somers, John, a delegate from Heemstede, 571. 
Soquatucks, at the head of the Connecticut, 732. 
South, or Delaware Bay, Hudson at, 26 ; Ar3Ull 
at, 51, 754; Hendricksen at, 79; May at, 97; 
called New Port May, 97. 
South River explored by Hendricksen, 79, 757, 
758 ; May at, 97 ; Dutch colonists sent to, 153 ; 
mode of communication with, 170 ; colonists 
removed from, 170, 183; lands bought on, 200; 
S waanendael established, 206, 207 ; De Vries at, 
219; whale-fishery at, 225; Corssen commissary 
on, 232 ; Virginian party at, 254 ; Jansen com- 
missary on, 279 ; Swedes on, 282, 283 ; see Fort 
Nassau, Fort Christina, New Sweden, Fort 
Casimir, New Amstel, Altona. 

Southampton, treaty of, 161 ; its provisions ex- 
tended, 182. 

Southampton, on Long Island, settlement at, 300 . 
annexed to Connecticut, 670 ; Scott at, 671. 

Southoid, settlement at, 300, 301 ; John Young 
chosen deputy from, to Hartford, 703. 

Sovereignty in the people of Holhuid, 452. 

Spain, papal donation of New World to, 1 ; revolt 
of the United Provinces from, 21, 38-42, 101, 
438-448, 7B1 ; recognizes the independence and 
sovereignty of the Dutch, 40, 42, 435. 

Spicer, Michael, a quakerofGravesend, banished, 
706. 

Spicer, Samuel, of Gravesend, case of, 689 ; or- 
dered to leave the province, 706. 

Spicer, Thomas, a delegate from Midwout to Con- 
vention, 571. 

Springfield, John Oldham in neighborhood of, 239 , 
settlement at, by Pynchon, 261, 262 ; commands 
the Connecticut trade, 428 ; Mohawks a terror 
to savages near, 496. 

Spyt den Duyvel, or Papirinemin, 421. 

Staats, Abraham, at South River, 530, note ; his 
house at Claverack destroyed, 733. 

Stadt Iluys of city of Amsterdam, 457. 

Stadt Huys, or City Ilall, of New Amsterdam, the 
City Tavern so called, 549 ; delegates meet at, 
569, 571 ; asked for, 575 ; granted, 588 ; ordered 
to be repaired, 597. 

Stadtholder, powers and duties of, 450 ; William 
I., Prince of Nassau and Orange, chosen to be, 
19, 439, 442 ; Maurice, 39, 160, 446 ; Frederick 
Henry, 160, 434 ; William II., 434, 498, 542 ; 
William III., 446, 450, 542. 

Stamford, English settlement at, 294 ; Dutch ex- 
pedition against Indians near, 390, 391. 

Standish, Captain Miles, appointed by New Plym- 
outh to command forces against the Dutch, 565. 

Stankekans, or Sankikans, 73, 225, 378, 425, 757 

Staple right established at Manhattan, 243 ; claim- 



INDEX. 



793 



ed for Rensselaerswyck, 400 ; denied, 401, 510, 
521. 

State Rights, doctrine of, in Holland and in New 
England, 362, 455. 

Staten Island, called Monacknong, or Eghquaous, 
73 ; purchased by Pauw, 203 ; De Vries enters 
land on, 265 ; surrendered by Pauw, 268 ; De 
Vries' colonie at, 289, 301 ; Raritans charged 
with misconduct at, 309 ; distillery and buck- 
skin manufactory on, 313 ; redoubt and flag- 
staff at, 314 ; attacked by the savages, 315 ; 
mines on, 431 ; colonists sent to, by Van de Ca- 
pellen, 524 ; Melyn at, 525 ; Van Dincklagen at, 
526 ; laid waste by the savages, 607, 608 : fresh 
colonists sent to, 641 ; repurchased by the West 
India Company, 692 ; Waldenses and Hugue- 
nots at, 692 ; village at, where Domine Drisius 
preaches, 692 ; is represented in General As- 
sembly, 729 ; Huguenots from Rochelle at, 730, 
734 ; block-house at, seized by the English, 738. 

States General, the, its character and functions, 
437, 449, 454 ; incorporates the East India Com- 
pany, 23 ; postpones incorporating a West India 
Company, 24 ; proclaims a fast-day, 41 ; ordi- 
nance of, for encouragement of discoveries, 60 ; 
its palace of the Binnenhof, 61, III, 449 ; grants 
New Netherland charter, 63-65, 80, 91 ; refuses 
application for the Puritans, 125, 126 ; charters 
the West India Company, 134-137 ; knows little 
about New Netherland, 142 ; interferes for De 
Vries, 155 ; makes treaty with Charles I., 161 ; 
maintains right of the West India Company in 
New Netherland, 216 ; action of, respecting En- 
glish complaints in case of the William, 245, 
246 ; respecting the patroons, 247, 248 ; com- 
missions Kieft, 274 ; inquires into condition of 
New Netherland, 285 ; instructs its deputies to 
arrange the company's difiiculties, 311 ; action 
of, respecting Joachimi's dispatches, 341 ; letter 
of the Eight Men to, 372 ; complained to, by the 
Swedish minister, 385 ; again appealed to from 
New Netherland, 397 ; approves Stuyvesant's 
commission, 432; receives Spanish ambassa- 
dor, 435 ; refuses audience to parliamentary 
minister, 498; suspends Stuyvesant's sentence 
against Melyn, 503 ; memorial and remonstrance 
of New Netherland to, 504-507 ; action of, on 
Vertoogh, 511, 515 ; orders Van Tienhoven and 
Dam to come to the Hague, 523, 524 ; requires 
opinion of the company on the provisional or- 
der, 539 ; recalls Stuyvesant, 541 ; revokes his 
recall, 542 ; negotiations of, with England, 542- 
544 ; instructs company to defend New Nether- 
land, 547 ; postpones boundary question, 567 ; 
makes treaty of peace with England, 586 ; ne- 
gotiates respecting the boundary, 600, 601 ; rati- 
fies Hartford treaty, 621 ; entertains Charles II., 
684 ; action of, respecting settlement of bound- 
ary, 686 ; approves new conditions offered by 
West India Company, 688 ; makes a convention 



with England, 701 ; confirms and explains char- 
ter of West India Company, 730 ; addresses let- 
ters to towns in New Netherland, 730. 

Steen, Corporal Hans, sent to Pavonia, 350. 

Steenhuysen, Engelbert, a delegate to General 
Assembly at New Amsterdam, 729. 

Steenwyck, Burgomaster Cornells, a delegate from 
New Amsterdam to General Assembly, 728 ; 
sent with letter to NicoUs, 740 ; a commissioner 
on the Dutch side, 741, 7G3. 

Stevensen, Coert, a delegate to General Assembly, 
729. 

Steynmets, Casparus, a magistrate of Bergen, 691. 

Stillwell, Lieutenant Nicholas, sent to Esopus, 
712 ; arrests Christie at Gravesend, 719. 

Stirling, Henry, Earl of, petitions Charles II., 701 ; 
part of his claimed territory included in Con- 
necticut, 702 ; his claim referred to Plantation 
Board, 725 ; releases his title to the Duke of 
York, 735, 736. 

Stirling, William Ale.xander, Earl of, 250, 259, 760 ; 
Long Island conveyed to, 259 ; gives power of 
attorney to James Farrctt, 297 ; his claims dis- 
regarded by the Dutch, 298-300 ; death of, 760. 

Stirling, Dowager Countess of, her agent Andrew 
Forrester arrested and banished, 477, 480. 

Stoep, or steps, in front of houses, 533. 

Stoffelsen, Jacob, of Pavonia, one of the Twelve 
Men, 317 ; marries widow of Cornells Van 
Voorst of Pavonia, 368 ; his house attacked, 
368. 

Stol, Jacob Jansen, of Esopus, church held at his 
house, 647 ; attacks the savages, 658. 

Stone, Captain, at Manhattan, 237 ; murdered by 
the Pequods, 242. 

Stone wall proposed at New Amsterdam, 694. 

Stoughton, Captain, at Saybrook, 272 ; praises the 
superiority of Connecticut, 293. 

Straatmaker, Dirck, killed at Pavonia, 353. 

Strangers attracted to New Netherland, 289 ; obli- 
gations required lYoni, 291 ; liberality of Dutch 
toward, 332, 335 ; hotel for, built at Manhattan, 
335 ; numbers of, at New Amsterdam, 374, 488, 
469, 579, 628, 640, 692, 734, 749. 

Stratford, settlement of, 294. 

Street, A. B., his poem of Frontenac, 87. 

Strickland's Plain, inaccurate accounts of battle 
on, 391, note. 

Strycker, Jan, a delegate from Amersfoort to Con- 
vention at New Amsterdam, 571 ; to General 
As.sembly, 729. 

Stuyvesant, Peter, director at Curagoa. 395 ; re- 
turns to Holland, 413 ; his early life, 413 ; ap- 
pointed director of New Netherland, 414 ; his 
departure delayed, 416 ; his instructions and 
commission approved by the States General, 
432; sails from the Texel, 432; incidents on 
his voyage, 433 ; arrives at Manhattan, 433 ; as- 
sumes the government, 465 ; his haughtiness, 
465 ; occurrences at his inauguration, 466 ; or- 



794 



INDEX. 



ganizes his council, 466 ; regulates the court of 
justice and the Church, 467 ; sides with Kiefl, 
469 ; his severe proceedings against Kuyter and 
Melyn, 470-472 ; denies the right of appeal, 472 ; 
organizes board of Nine Men, 474-470 ; arrests 
Forrester, Lady Stirling's agent, 477 ; corre- 
spondence with Winthrop, 478 ; seizes ship at 
New Haven, 479 ; justifies his conduct, 480 ; re- 
taliates, 481 ; revokes his proclamation, 482 ; 
negotiates with Printz, 485 ; regulates munici- 
pal affairs at New Amsterdam, 487-490; en- 
deavors to repress contraband trade, 490 ; visits 
Fort Orange, 491 ; his difficulties with Slechten- 
horst, 491-494 ; called " Wooden Leg" by the 
Mohawks, 493 ; asks for another clergyman from 
Holland, 494 ; his correspondence with New 
England, 496 ; explanation of the Dutch claims, 
497 ; proposes a conference with the commis- 
sioners and with Eaton, 499-500 ; opposes the 
Nine Men, 501 ; calls a great council, and -op- 
presses Van der Donck, 502 ; action in Melyn's 
case, 503 ; in affair of Vastrick, 503 ; his " Bouvv- 
ery," 504 ; forbids Domine Backerus to read pa- 
pers from the pulpit, 504 ; asks for a school-" 
master, 508 ; sends Van Tienhoven to represent 
him in Holland. 509 ; disregards the " Provision- 
al Order," 517 ; deprives the Nine Men of their 
pew in the church, 518; goes to Hartford and 
negotiates a treaty, 519, 520 ; omits to send pa- 
pers to Holland, 520 ; prohibits settlements at 
Katskill under patroon, 522 ; his body-guard, 
525 ; arrests Van Dincklagen, 526 ; defeats an- 
other expedition to the South River from New 
Haven, 527 ; arrests Van Slechtenhorst, 528 ; 
visits South River, 528 ; buys more territory, 
529 ; demolishes Fort Nassau and builds Fort 
Casimir, 529 ; appoints Dyckman vice-director 
at Fort Orange, 530 ; revisits Fort Orange, and 
annexes Beverwyck to its jurisdiction, 535 ; de- 
clares void sales at Katskill and elsewhere, 536 ; 
grants patents for Middelburgh or Newtown, and 
Midwout or Flatbush, 536 ; postpones half the 
public payments, 539 ; recalled by the States 
General, 541 ; his recall revoked, 542 ; organizes 
municipal government of New Amsterdam, 548 ; 
writes to New England and Virginia. 549; de- 
nies charges of the New England commission- 
ers, 551 ; his overtures to the New England 
agents, 553 ; answers the New England decla- 
ration, 554 ; his declarations about employing 
Indians, 555 ; banishes Underbill, 550 ; sends 
agents to Virginia, 559; disagreement with bur- 
gomasters of New Amsterdam, 560 ; sends Dom- 
ine Drisius to Virginia, 561 ; blockades Onke- 
way, or Fairfield, 565 ; makes concessions to 
New Amsterdam, 567, 568 ; conduct tovi^ard 
delegates at New Amsterdam, 569 ; calls Landt- 
dag, or Convention, 570 ; his answer to its re- 
monstrance, 573, 574 ; orders it to disperse, 575 ; 
receives overtures from the Swedes, 576 ; gives 



a letter to Printz on his return, 577 ; appoints 
new city officers, 578 ; takes measures against 
pirates, 579 ; incorporates Dutch villages on 
Long Island, 580 ; encourages a church at Mid- 
wout, 581 ; his illiberal treatment of the Luther- 
ans, 581 ; precautions against the English, 584 . 
proclaims thanksgiving for peace, 587 ; reproved 
by the company, 587 ; offers to make Cortelyou 
city schout, 588 ; regulates ferry at New Am- 
sterdam, 589 ; difficulties with municipal au- 
thorities, 589 ; resumes excise, 590 ; at Fort 
Orange, 590, 591 ; reports the capture of Fort 
Casimir, 594 ; seizes Swedish ship, 595 ; pro- 
tests against English intruders at West Chester 
and Oyster Cay, 595 ; visits Gravesend, 596 ; 
sails for the West Indies, 597 ; returns to New- 
Amsterdam, 003 ; commands expedition against 
South River, 604 ; captures Fort Casimir and 
Fort Christina, 604, 605 ; establishes the Dutch 
power on the South River, 606 ; returns to New 
Amsterdam and takes measures for its defense, 
608; ransoms prisoners, 608; organizes govern- 
ment on South River, 609 ; proposes an increase 
of taxes, 610 ; prohibits New Year and May-day 
sports, 611 ; proclamation to form villages, 613 ; 
appoints new schepens, 613 ; his proclamation 
against conventicles, 617 ; rebuked by the com- 
pany, 618; reduces the English at West Ches- 
ter, 619 ; incorporates Oost-dorp and Rustdorp, 
619; secures Swedish vessel on South River, 
620, 621 ; appoints De Sille city schout, 623 ; 
fines Van Rensselaer, 624 ; correspondence ot, 
with commissioners, 625 ; enforces ordinance 
against conventicles, 626; regulates affairs at 
Oost-dorp, 627 ; establishes great and small 
burgherships at New Amsterdam, 628, 629 ; 
transfers Fort Casimir to Alrichs, 632 ; appoints 
Hudde commandant at Altona, 633 ; sends Crom- 
well's letter to West India Company, 634 ; or- 
ders Goetwatcr back to Holland, 635 ; his se- 
verity toward Hodgson, 636; issues proclama- 
tion against Quakers, 637 ; punishes Flushing; 
magistrates, 638 ; proclaims fast-day on account 
of Quakers, 639 ; allows nomination of magis- 
trates to New Amsterdam, 640 ; purchases Ber- 
gen, 642 ; refuses to send Quakers to New En- 
gland, 643 ; negotiates with French in Canada, 
645, 646 ; visits Esopus, 647 ; conference witii 
the savages, 648 ; lays out village at Esopus, 
649 ; establishes garrison at, 650 ; revisits the 
South River, 651 ; appoints Bceckman vice-di- 
rector on the South River, 652 ; refuses Massa- 
chusetts permission to navigate the North River. 
655 ; proposes a Dutch settlement at the Wap- 
pinger's Kill. 655 ; revisits Esopus, 660 ; a.sks 
re-enforcements from Holland, 661 ; complains 
of AlricJis' conduct, 663 ; sends re-enforcements 
to the South River, 665 ; reports its situation, 
669, 670 ; again refuses to allow Massachusetts 
people to navigate the North River, 672 ; replies 



INDEX. 



795 



to Massachusetts' claim, 673 ; warns West In 
dia Company against New England, 673, 674 
requires Indian children to be educated, 675 
declares war against tlie Esopus savages, 676 
sends Indian prisoners to the West Indies, 676 
refuses to organize court at Esopus, 677 ; op- 
poses employment of the Mohawks, 677 ; makes 
treaty at Esopus, 688 ; confers with the Senecas 
at Fort Orange, 679, 680 ; contributes to church 
at his bouwery, 681 ; urges the Mohawks to be 
at peace with the English savages, 682 ; nego- 
tiates a treaty with Virginia, 663 ; correspond- 
ence with Governor Berkeley, 684 ; revives per- 
secution against Quakers, 689 ; incorporates 
Wiltwyck, and installs Swartwout, 690 ; incor- 
porates Bergen, 691 ; New Utrecht and Bos- 
wyck, 693 ; is asked to deliver up regicides, 695 ; 
offers of, to Puritan colonists, 696 ; his dispatch 
to Holland about Maryland, 697 ; about Gov- 
ernor Berkeley, 702 ; his letter to Connecticut, 
703 ; goes with Breedon to Fort Orange, and 
negotiates with the Mohawks, 704 ; arrests and 
banishes John Bowne, 706 ; is rebuked by the 
West India Company, 707 ; further concessions 
of, to Puritan colonists, 708 ; forbids West Ches- 
ter to obey Connecticut, 709 ; sends re-enforce- 
ments to Esopus, 711, 712; surrenders the South 
River to Ilinoyossa, 717 ; negotiates with com- 
missioners at Boston, 718 ; sends commission- 
ers to Hartford, 720 ; security required for his 
bill on the company, 720 ; summons a Conven- 
tion at New Amsterdam, 722 ; his dispatch to 
the company, 723 ; surrenders West Chester 
and Long Island towns, 724 ; purchases Neve- 
sinck lands, 724 ; makes conditional arrange- 
ment with Scott, 727 ; ratifies it, 728 ; calls Gen- 
eral Provincial Assembly, 728 ; propositions of, 
to, 729 ; makes treaty with Esopus savages, 731 ; 
reinstates Swartwout, and appoints Beeckman 
commissary at Esopus, 731, 732 ; his action re- 
specting Schaenhechstede, 732 ; his interview 
with Winthrop on Long Island, 733, 734 ; hope- 
ful about New Netherland, 734 ; is warned of 
designs of the English, 736 ; deceived by dis- 
patch of West India Company, 737 ; visits Fort 
Orange, 737 ; hurries back to New Amsterdam, 
737 ; sends message to Nicolls, 738 ; endeavors 
to withhold summons to surrender from the 
people, 739 ; tears Nicolls' letter, 739 ; last dis- 
patch to Amsterdam, 740 ; appoints commission- 
ers to agree to articles, 741 ; surrenders, 742. 

Stuyvesant, Balthazar, urges surrender of New 
Netherland, 741. 

Survey and population of New Amsterdam, 623 ; 
second survey and map of, 674. 

Swaanendael, colony planted at, 206 ; destroyed 
by the savages, 219-221 ; deserted by the Dutch, 
228 ; surrendered to West India Company, 249. 

Swannekens, Dutch so called by the Indians, 315, 
347, 352, 358, 360. 



Swart, Gerrit, schout of Rensselaerswyck, 535. 

Swartwout, Roelof, commissioned as sellout oi 
Esopus, 677 ; installed in office, 690 ; courageous 
behavior of, 711 ; discharged from office, 714 : 
reinstated, 731. 

Swartwout, Thomas, a delegate from Amersfbort 
to Convention at New Amsterdam, 571. 

Swedish West India Company, 260 ; colony estab- 
lished on the South River, 281-284 ; ship seized 
in Holland, 284 ; progress of colony on South 
River, 319-321 ; colonists assist the Dutch 
against the English, 338, 382-384 ; ships arrest- 
ed in Holland, 365 ; officers on South River in- 
sult the Dutch, 424-428 ; oppose them further, 
482-487, 510, 511 ; visited by Stuyvesant, 528- 
530 ; new arrangements for, 577 ; officers, hos- 
tile proceedings of, 593, 594 ; ship seized at Man- 
hattan, 594 ; orders of company for reduction 
of, 601 ; expedition against, 603, 604 ; reduction 
of, under the Dutch, 605, 606 ; ship Mercury ar- 
rested, 620; Dutch title maintained against, 
621, 622 ; residents not to be appointed to office, 
663 ; residents able to bear arms, number of, 
675 ; arguments of English with, 744 ; see New 
Sweden, New Amstel, Altona. 

Sweringen, Gerrit van, supercargo of New Am- 
stel expedition, 632 ; blames Alrichs, 670 ; at 
AmsterdaiTi, 697 ; shoots a soldier and is i)ro- 
tected by Hinoyossa, 699 ; renews treaty with 
the savages, 717. 

Synod of Dordrecht, 109, 110, 117, 342,609, 617. 

Synods and classes in Holland, 104, note, 118, 614. 

Tachkanic, or Taconick, Mountains, 75; Dutch 
soldiers murdered near the, 657. 

Tack, Arent Pietersen, of Wiltwyck, 714. 

Talcott, Captain John, enforces submission of 
West Chester to Connecticut, 709 ; opposes 
Stuyvesant at Boston, 718 ; on Long Island, 
719; conlers with Dutch agents at Hartford, 
720,721 ; commissionersof Connecticut on Long 
Island, 726. 

Talpahockin, vale of, 89. 

Tankitekes, or Haverstraws, 315, 348, 364, 392. 

Tappaii, derivation of name, 74, note, 757; De 
Vries at, 301, 307 ; savages at, refuse to pay 
tribute, 310, 311; De Vries' plantation at, 313; 
savages attacked by the Mohawks, 349 ; massa- 
cred at Pavonia, 352 ; attack the Dutch, 355, 
368 ; peace with, 409 ; further treaties with, 675, 
731 ; stone procured from, for wall at New Am- 
sterdam, 694. 

Tawasentha, post at, 81 ; treaty of, 88. 

Taxation oidy by consent, the principle in Holland, 
192, 436, 437, 440, 442 ; heavy, in Holland, 458, 
462 ; action respecting, in New Netherland, 473- 
476, 505, 550, 572, 575, 727 ; views of the West 
India Company, 588, 602, 746. 

Temple, Colonel, complains of the Mohawks. 
732. 



796 



INDEX. 



Temple, Sir William, on the Dutch, 455, 461, 462. | Timmer Kill, or Timber Creek, Fort Nassau built 

Tenkenas Island, 267. | on, 157, 758. 

Terneur, Daniel, a magistrate of New Haerlem, I Tinicum, Fort New Goltenburg built on, 379. 



675 ; delegate to General Assembly, 729. | 

Teunissen, Cornelis, 244. 

Teunissen, Gerrit, 244. 

Teunissen, Gysbert, a delegate to General Assem- 
bly, 729. 

Teunissen, Jan, first schout of Breuckelen. 422. 

Texel, Vlieland, and Zuyder Zee. named by the 
Dutch, 58, 141, 756. 



Title, Dutch and English, to New Netherland, 35. 
96, 129, 141, 143 ; Dutch urged to clear their, 180 ; 
to Connecticut, 211 ; questioned and defended, 
214-217, 239, 240; see West India Company, 

Tobacco subjected to excise, 277 ; Virginian im- 
provements in cultivating, 290 ; inspectors of, 
292; export duty taken off, 540; trade in, 697, 
715, 735. 



^-J'hanksgiving and fast-days in the Netherlands, | Toleration in Holland, 101-103, 458, 459, 707; in 
41, 443, 747 ; in New Netherland, 41, note, 356, ! New Netherland, 335, 374, 582, 614, 707, 749. 



391, 409, 491, 587, 605, 639, 731, 747. 
Tharonhyjagon, the god of the Iroquois, S3. 
The Hague, origin of its name, 61. 
The Kills, or Kill van Cul, 27, 28, 313, note. 
The Reformed, first so called in Holland, 100. 
Thomas, Captain Jelmer, accompanies Stuyve- 

sant, 432. 
Throgmorton, John, at Throg's Neck, 333 ; settle- 



Tomasse, Jan, magistrate of New Utrecht, 693. 

Tonneman, Pieter, schout of Breuckelen, 580 ; 
summons Non-conformists, 639 ; accompanies 
Stuyvesant to South River, 651 ; appointed 
schout of New Amsterdam, 674 ; succeeded by 
liegeman, 693. 

Torkillus, Reorus, first Lutheran clergyman on 
the South River, 281 ; death of, 379, note. 



ment called Vredeland, 334 ; his settlement de- j Totems, or symbols, of the Iroquois, 84, 85. 



stroyed by the savages, 366. 

Thurloe, Secretary, 583 ; his collection of papers, 
586 ; negotiates with Nieuport, 601. 

Tienhoven, Adriaen van, clerk of court on South 
River, 486 ; informs Stuyvesant of conduct of 
Swedes, 487 ; appointed receiver general, 532 ; 
at surrender of Fort Casimir, 593 ; dismissed 
from the public service, 622 ; leaves New Neth- 
erland, 623. 

Tienhoven, Cornelis van, book-keeper at Fort Am- 
sterdam, 223 ; made provincial secretary and 
schout-fiscal, 275; purchases lands in West 
Chester, 296 ; breaks up settlement at Schout's 
Bay, 299; leads expedition again.st the Rari- 
tans, 310 ; makes the treaty at the Bronx River, 
330 ; urges Kieft to attack the savages, 349 ; sent 
to reconnoitre at Pavonia, 350 ; retained as pro- 
vincial secretary by Stuyvesant, 466 ; visits 
New Haven and discovers a Dutch vessel there, 
478, 479 ; sent to Holland as Stuyvesant's rep- 
resentative, 509; at the Hague, 511, 512; pre- 



pares papers about New Netherland affairs,.-«rreatyoftheTawasentha, 81,88 ; at Fort Orange, 



513 ; prepares reply to the Vertoogh, 523 ; son- 
in-law of Dam, 524 ; returns to New Nether- 
land, 524 ; appointed scliout-liscal in i)lace of 
Van Dyck, 532; charged with plotting, by Un- 
derliill, 556; sent to negotiate with Virginia, 
559 ; sent to New Haven, 579 ; continued as 
city schout, 588 ; sent to warn intruders at 
West Chester, 595 ; at Gravesend, 597 ; super- 
intends South River expedition, 603 ; in favor 
of a wai against the savages, 610; sent to West 
Chester, 618 ; dismissed from the public service, 
622 ; leaves New Netherland, 623. 

Tilje, Jan, magistrate of Boswyck, 693. 

Tilton, John, town clerk of Gravesend, 596 ; per- 
secuted as a Quaker, 638, 689 ; ordered to leave 
the province, 706. 



Towns, rise of Dutch, 192, 437, 448, 453 ; in New 
Netherland, 312, 332, 388, 415, 540, 571, 722, 729 ; 
combination of, on Long Island, 726. 

Townsend, Henry, of Rustdorp, proceedings 
against, 637, 638, 689. 

Townsend, John, of Rustdorp, case of, 637, 689. 

Tracy, Marquis de, viceroy of Canada, 705. 

Trade, freedom of, in Holland, 98, 415, 456, 458, 
543 ; restrained in New Netherland, 135, 155, 
196, 197 ; regulated, 277 ; made more free, 288 , 
consequences, 289, 307, 308 ; again regulated, 
293, 312, 377, 400, 406, 415, 416, 466, 489, 495; 
fVeedom of, demanded, 505, 507 ; concessions 
respecting, 540; to make Manhattan flourish, 
547 ; confined to residents, 628, 629 ; opened 
with Canada, 646 ; foreign, 415, 656 ; with Vir- 
ginia, 684 ; with Maryland, 697 ; on South Riv- 
er, 715; in tobacco, 735; see Commerce. 

Traders, itinerant, at New Amsterdam, 489 ; reg- 
ulated, 628. 

Traitors not found in Holland, 464. 



152; of Southampton, 161; at Manhattan, 164; 
at Swaanendael, 221 ; at Fort Am.sterdam, 359; 
at Fort Orange, 408 ; general, at Fort Amster- 
dam, 409; of Westphalia, 435; at Hartford, 519, 
520, 539 ; on South River, 529 ; of the Dutch 
with Cromwell, 586 ; at New Amsterdam, 675; 
at Esopus, 678 ; with Virginia, 683, 084 ; of the 
Dutch with Charles II., 701 ; at Fort Amster- 
dam, 731 ; at Fort Albany, 744. 

Tribunals, or courts of justice, in New Nether- 
land, 135, 154, 163, 195, 197, 276, 288, 304, 315, 
327, 405, 414, 467, 599; see Council, Patroons. 

Tribute, attempted exaction of, from River In- 
dians, 309 ; payment of refused, 310, .350. 

Trinity Church, first rector of, in New York, 119, 
note ; estate of, 206. 



INDEX. 



79: 



Tromp, Admiral Marten Harpertsen, 545 ; vul- 
gar error in calling him Vati Tromp, 545, note ; 
sweeps the channel clear of English ships, 546. 

Troy, or Paanpaack, purchase of, 534. 

Turkeys, large wild, 226, 303. 

Turtle Bay, 292 ; see Deutel Bay. 

Tuscaroras, 83, 84. 

Tweenhuysen, Lambrecht van, 46, 47, 59, 65. 

Twelve Men chosen, 317 ; oppose a war, 318, 319 ; 
assent to hostilities, 325 ; demand reforms, 326- 
328 ; are dissolved by Kieft, 329. 

Twiller, Wouter van, appointed director general, 
222 ; arrives at Manhattan, 223 ; character of 
his administration, 224, 225 ; conduct respect- 
ing English ship William, 229, 230 ; toward De 
Tries, 231 ; replies to Winthrop, 240 ; under- 
takes costly works, 243, 244 ; reprimanded by 
Domine Bogardus, 245 ; attempts to dislodge 
English from the Kievit's Hook, 261 ; visits Pa- 
vonia, 263 ; irregularities in his government, 
265 ; sends Van Dincklagen back to Holland, 
256 ; purchases lands, 265, 267 ; rescues two 
V/ethersfield prisoners, 271 ; complained of in 
Holland, 273 ; superseded by the appointment 
of Kieft, 274 ; his large estate, 276 ; an e.xecutor 
of Kilian van Rensselaer, 420 ; sides with Melyn 
and Van der Donck in Holland, 512 ; disliked by 
the West India Company, 521. 

Uncas, chief of the Mahicans, assists the English, 
271 ; accuses Miantonomoh, 330 ; puts him to 
death, 364 ; spreads reports against Stuyve- 
sant, 550. 

Underbill, Captain John, sent to Saybrook, 270 ; 
attacks the Pequod village, 271, 272 ; proposes 
to settle in New Netherland, 291 ; at Stamford, 
366 ; taken into the service of the Dutch, 366 
sent to ask assistance from New Haven, 370 
Patrick murdered at his house at Stamford, 387 
is sent to Heemstede, 389 ; commands expedi- 
tion against Indians near Stamford, 390, 391 ; 
arranges a peace, 392, 397 ; his seditious con- 
duct on Long Island, 552, 555 ; is banished, 556 ; 
commissioned by Rhode Island, 557 ; seizes Fort 
Good Hope, 558 ; at Setauket, on Long Island, 
671 ; a commissioner at Heemstede, 728. 

Union of Utrecht, the, 19, 38, 132, 362, 445, 750. 

United Colonies of New England, commissioners 
of the, 361, 362; Kieft's correspondence with, 
362, 363 ; meet at New Haven, 429 ; claim In- 
dian captives as slaves, 429 ; reply to Kieft's 
protest, 430 ; complain of high duties at Man- 
hattan, 478 ; correspondence of, with Stuyve- 
sant, 496, 497; forbid foreigners to trade with 
New England savages, 500, 501 ; Stuyvesant's 
interview with, 518 ; trea/ty with the Dutch ne- 
gotiated at Hartford, 519, 520 ; protest against 
Stuyvesant's hostility to New Haven adven- 
turers, 530; suspicious of his plotting with the 
savages against them, 550 ; their declaration of 



complaints against the Dutch, 551 ; send agents 
to New Amsterdam, 551-554 ; at variance with 
Massachusetts, 557, 558 ; decline to aid the 
French in Canada, 564 ; express sympathy for 
the Dutch, 608 ; correspondence with Stuyve- 
sant, 625 ; support claim of Massachusetts, 671 ; 
Stuyvesant's answer, 673 ; measures of, against 
the Mohawks, 704 ; negotiate with Stuyvesant 
at Boston, 718, 719. 

Upland, the Swedes at, 483. 

Usselincx, William, proposes Dutch West India 
Company, 21, 23, 134 ; plans Swedish West In- 
dia Company, 280. 

Utie, Colonel Nathaniel, agent of Maryland at the 
South River, 664 ; his conduct toward the 
Dutch officers, 665 ; reproved by Heermans, 
667 ; his conduct justified by Maryland, 669. 

Valentine and Orson, 46, 66. 

Valentine's Manual of the Corporation, 761. 

Varcken's Kill, or Salem, in New Jereey, English 
settlement at, 322 ; broken up, 338 ; Fort Elsing- 
burg built near, 360. 

Varlett, Judith, case of, at Hartford, 703, note. 

Varlett, Nicholas, goes to Virginia and negotiates 
a treaty, 683 ; at Hartford, 703 ; a commissioner 
on the Dutch side, 741, 763. 

Vastrick, Gerrit, case of, 503, 504. 

Verazzano at New York harbor, 2, 16, 35 ; at Block 
Island, 57, note. 

Verbeck, Jan, a delegate to General Assembly, 729. 

Verdrietig Hook, 29, 74. 

Verhulst, William, succeeds May as director, 159 ; 
succeeded by Peter Minuit, 162. 

Verhulsten Island, near the falls of the South Riv- 
er, 159 ; colonists at, 160 ; deserted, 170, 183. 

Verplanck, or Planck, Abram, buys land at Pa- 
vonia, 279 ; one of the Twelve Men, 317 ; see 
Planck. 

Vertoogh, or Remonstrance, of New Netherland, 
506, 507 ; presented to the States General, 511 ; 
printed and circulated in Holland, 512. 

Verveeler, Johannes, a delegate to General As- 
sembly, 729. 

Vestens, William, Siecken-trooster and school- 
master at Manhattan, 516. 

Virginia named, 5 ; colonization of, attempted by 
Raleigh, 6; new charter for, 11; the "Old 
Dominion" of the United States, 12; Jamestown 
founded in, 12 ; second charter for, 15 ; proposi- 
tion of the Dutch to join in colony of, 44, 45 : 
progress of, 49-53 ; visited by Dermer, 93 ; by 
May, 97 ; patent for the Puritans to settle in, 
122, 128, 129 ; English title to, admitted by the 
Dutch, 143, 215 ; Walloons desire to go to, 147 ; 
De Vries at, 226 ; Governor Harvey's friendly 
bearing, 227 ; ship from, at Manhattan, 237 ; 
explorations by authority of, 249, 250 ; jealous 
of Maryland, 253 ; party from, at Fort Nassau, 
254 ; dislodged and sent back, 255 ; scarcity in, 



798 



INDEX. 



269 ; Harvey returns to, 279 ; Minuit at, 2S2 ; 
emigrants from, to New Netherland, 290, 292 ; 
English in, considered Egyptians by the Hart- 
ford people, 295; fugitives from, 335; inter- 
course with, 335 ; De Vries in, 381 ; Plowden 
at, 382 ; Dutch commerce with, 415, 466, 479 ; 
Cromwell not favored in, 499 ; the Dutch pro- 
pose free trade with, 544 ; trade of Manhattan 
with, to be encouraged, 547 ; Stuyvesant pro- 
poses commercial friendship with, 549 ; Dutch 
send agents to negotiate with, 559 ; Domine 
Drisius sent to, 561 ; Doughty goes from Flush- 
ing to, 615, 666 ; apprehended intrusion of, at 
Cape Hinlopen, 651 ; letters from, to Swedes on 
South River, 663 ; Heermans in, 669, 683 ; pro- 
posed enlistment of soldiers for the Dutch in, 
675 ; treaty of commerce with, 683, 684 ; chil- 
dren sent from, to Latin school at New Amster- 
dam, 694; Berkeley agent of, in England, 701, 
702; Navigation Law evaded in, 724; threat- 
ening attitude of, 734 ; ordered to enforce Navi- 
gation Law, 735. 

Visscher, Schipper, ordered to be ready for de- 
fense of New Amsterdam, 549. 

Visscher's Hook, or Montauk Point, 54 ; Block at, 
57, 756. 

Vleeck, Tielman van, magistrate of Bergen, 691. 

Vlie-boat, or Fly-boat, origin of name of, 25, note. 

Vlissingen, patent for, 410 ; see Flushing. 

Volckertsen, Captain Thys, 46. 

Voorst, Cornells van, Pauw's commander at Pa- 
vonia, 263, 317, note, 368. 

Voorst, Gerrit Jansen van, murdered at Hackin- 
sack, 347, 348, 350. 

Voyages of David Pietersen de Vries, 156, 381. 

Vries, David Pietersen de, his ship arrested at 
Hoorn, 155; becomes a patroon, 205; sails to 
Swaanendael, 219 ; makes peace with the sav- 
ages, 221 ; visits Fort Nassau, 225 ; goes to 
Virginia, 226 ; his pleasant interview with Gov- 
ernor Harvey, 227 ; arrives at Manhattan, 228 ; 
his advice to Van Twiller, 230; returns to Hol- 
land, 237, 247 ; revisits Manhattan and Virginia, 
255 ; repairs his ship at the Smid's Vleye, 263 ; 
arranges for colonic on Staten Island, and sails 
for Holland, 265 ; returns with colonists to New 
Netherland, 289 ; visits Connecticut, 294 ; his 
plantations on Staten Island and Manhattan, 
301 ; buys at Tappan, 301 ; at Esopus and Cas- 
tle Island, 302-306 ; his opinion of the North 
River, 307 ; his plantation on Staten Island 
plundered and destroyed, 309, 315 ; establishes 
colonic at Vriescndael, 313 ; chosen one of the 
Twelve Men, 317 ; opposes hostilities, 318 ; pro- 
poses the building of a new church, 335; visits 
Hackinsack, 347 ; visits Kieft at Fort Amster- 
dam, 348, 349 ; warns Kieft against attacking 
the savages, 351 ; spends night of anxiety at 
Fort Amsterdam, 352 ; besieged at Vricsendael, 
355 ; interview with Indians at Rockaway, 358 ; 



procures release of son of Van Voorst, 368: his 
parting prophesy to Kieft, 371 ; on the South 
River, 380 ; returns to Holland, 381 ; publishes 
his voyages, 156, 381, note. 

Vricsendael, De Vries' colonic at, 313 ; its distance 
from Hackinsack, 347 ; savages seek refuge at, 
349 ; besieged by the savages, 355 ; visited by 
friendly sachem, 300 ; abandoned by De Vries, 
370. 

Vroedschap in Holland, 453. 

Waal-bogt, Walloons settled at, 153, 154 ; first 
child born at, 268 ; Domine Selyns at, 681. 

Waerkimin's-Connie, court at, 642. 

Wahamanessing, or Wappinger's Kill, 75. 

Waldenses at Amsterdam, 629, 631, 715 ; emigra- 
tion of, to New Netherland, 632, 692, 749. 

Waldron, Resolved, under sellout of New Amster- 
dam, sent on embassy to Maryland, 666-669 ; 
sent to Rustdorp, 669 ; at West Chester, 709. 

Walker, Zachariah, preacher at Jamaica, 724. 

Wall Street, fence built on site of, 392, 549, 741. 

Walloons in Holland, 146 ; desire to go to Virginia, 
147; favored by the States, 148; emigrate to 
New Netherland, 150; at the Waal-bogt, 153, 
154, 749; on South River, 160, 170, 1S2. 

Walvis, ship, at South River, 205-207 ; island, 
near the Cohooes, 420, note. 

Wampum, 172; Sunday contributions made in, 
314 ; see Sewan. 

Wantenaar, Albert Cornells, a delegate to Gen- 
eral Assembly, 729. 

Wappang-zewan presents lands on South River 
to the Dutch, 529. 

Wappingers, tribe of, 74 ; attack the Dutch, 364 ; 
among the Stamford Indians, 391 ; peace with, 
409 ; settlements among, proposed, 655, 672 ; 
mediate for the Esopus savages, 675, 678 ; friend- 
ly to the Dutch, 713 ; tampered with by Con- 
necticut people, 731. 

Wappinger's Kill, or Wahamanessing, 74, 75 ; 
proposed Dutch settlement at, 655 ; approved 
by the company, 672, 681. 

War, end of Kieft's Indian, 407 ; see Esopus. 

Waranowankongs, 75, 757. 

Washburn, William, a delegate from Heemstede, 
571. 

Wassenaar, Ilistorische Verhael, 46, 157. 

Waters, Anthony, of Heemstede, proceedings of, 
723. 

Waugh, Dorothy, imprisoned for preaching in 
streets at New Amsterdam, 636. 

Wayandanck, sachem of Montauk, 670, 671. 

Weckquaesgeeks, tribe of, 74 ; murder of one of, 
at the Kolck, 166 ; Kieft purchases lands of, 296 ; 
De Vries at country of, 301 ; masts procured 
from, 302 ; one of, murders Claes Smits, 316 ; 
refuse to surrender murderer, 316 ; expedition 
against, proposed, 318, 319 ; authorized, 325 , 
dispatched, 329 ; treaty with, 330 ; Mohawks 



INDEX. 



799 



demand tribute from, 349 ; attacked at Corlaer's 
Hook, 352 ; lay waste West Chester, 366,367 ; ex- 
pedition against, 387 ; prisoners at Fort Amster- 
dam, 389 ; peace witli, 392, 409 ; Van der Donck 
purchases land from, 421 ; English buy land 
from, 595, 598 ; again provoked, 606 ; Dutch 
prisoners among, 610 ; treaty with, 675. 

Weeks, Francis, of Heemstede, case of, 639. 

Weights and measures of Amsterdam required to 
be used in New Netherland, 406, 412, 489. 

Welius, Domine Everardus, at New Amstel, 633 ; 
death of, 670. 

Werckhoven, Cornells van, his purchases on 
Long Island and in New Jersey, 537 ; signs let- 
ter to New England agents, 553 ; a delegate at 
New Amsterdam, 569 ; death of, 537, 693 ; see 
New Utrecht. 

Werk-baas, meaning of the phrase, 261, note. 

West Chester, English settle at, 595 ; protest of 
the Dutch against, 598 ; Puritan Independents 
at, 616 ; Dutch expedition against, 618 ; Oost- 
dorp incorporated, 619 ; affairs at, 626, 627 ; de- 
clared to be annexed to Connecticut, 703 ; au- 
thority of Connecticut enforced, 709 ; negotia- 
tions at Boston respecting, 718 ; at Hartford, 
721 ; act of Connecticut respecting, 722 ; sur- 
rendered by Stuyvesant, 723, 724 ; letter of 
States General to, 730, 733 ; spies sent to obtain 
intelligence at, 737 ; see Weckquaesgeeks. 

West India Company, Dutch, proposed, 24, 97, 
125; chartered by the States General, 134; its 
powers and duties, 135-137; organization of, 
148 ; assigns New Netherland to care of Am- 
sterdam Chamber, 148 ; takes possession of New 
Netherland, 149 ; arrests De Vries' ship at 
Hoorn, 155 ; its conquests, 185 ; its charter for 
patroons, 187, 194-199 ; jealousies among its 
directors, 203 ; at variance with the patroons, 
213 ; defends its title to New Netherland, 215 ; 
its policy respecting New Netherland, 223, 224 ; 
answer of, in the case of the ship William, 246 ; 
to the " claim and demand" of the patroons, 248 ; 
declines to surrender New Netherland to the 
States General, 285 ; its unsuccessful manage- 
ment, 286 ; proclaims a freer trade, 288 ; its new 
charter for patroons, 311, 312; establishes the 
Reformed Dutch Church in New Netherland, 
312 ; Hugh Peters commissioned to negotiate 
with, 323 ; asserts right to approve calls of min- 
isters, 342, 343 ; letter of the Eight Men to, 371- 
373 ; seizes Swedish ships from the South Riv- 
er, 385 ; Kieft draws a bill on, 387 ; bankruptcy 
of, 393 ; memorial of Eight Men to, 397-400 ; 
asks assistance from the States General, 403 ; 
considers measures for the relief of New Neth- 
erland, 404-406 ; commissions new officers, 414- 
416, 432 ; willing to promote education, 476 ; or- 
ders criminals to be punished in New Nether- 
land, 478 ; allows ammunition to savages, 503 ; 
reproves Stuyvesant's indiscretion, 504 ; letter 



from Gravesend to, 509 ; avoided by Van der 
Donck, 511 ; letter of, to Stuyvesant, 512 ; en- 
courages emigration 513 ; Amsterdam Chamber 
opposes provisional order, 515, 516 ; another let- 
ter from Gravesend to, 518 ; rebukes pretensions 
of patroons of Rensselaerswyck, 521, 522; de- 
clares the North River to be free, 522 ; instruc- 
tions of, about South River, 528 ; disapproves 
of Stuyvesant's conduct there, 538, 539 ; its ac- 
tion on the provisional order, 539, 540 ; recom- 
mendations of, to States General, 546; instruc- 
tions of, to Stuyvesant, 546, 547 ; action respect- 
ing Van der Donck's application to see records, 
560, 561 ; answers complaints of patroons, 562, 
563 ; proposes a trading-house above Fort Or- 
ange, 563 ; sends an English libel to Stuyvesant, 
566; applies to States General to arrange the 
boundary, 567 ; conduct of, toward the Luther- 
ans, 582 ; instructions of, 567 ; orders Stuyve- 
sant to avoid employing foreigners, 600; sub- 
mits boundary papers to States General, 600; 
orders the recovery of Fort Casimir, 601 ; di- 
rects taxation to be enforced, 602 ; rebukes Stuy- 
vesant's bigotry, 617, 618 ; procures ratification 
of Hartford treaty by the States General, 621 ; 
orders fort to be built at Oyster Bay, 622 ; ap- 
proves South River expedition, 622 ; dismisses 
Van Tienhoven, 622 ; losses of, in Brazil and 
Guinea, 629 ; conveys territory on South River 
to city of Amsterdam, 630-632 ; enjoins religious 
moderation, 642, 643; instructs Stuyvesant to 
be on his guard against the Jesuits, 644 ; orders 
redoubt to be built at Esopus, 647 ; instructs 
Stuyvesant respecting the South River, 652 ; 
grants a foreign trade to New Netherland, and 
sends a Latin schoolmaster, 656 ; enjoins more 
liberality in religion, 656 ; instructs Stuyvesant 
not to employ Swedes, 663 ; declines to take 
back New Amstel, 670 ; approves of a settlement 
on Wappinger's Kill, and orders Stuyvesant to 
oppose English intruders, 672 ; appoints Tonne- 
man schout of New Amsterdam, 674 ; orders 
Stuyvesant to erect a court at Esopus, 677 ; to 
oppose encroachments of Maryland, 682 ; ap- 
proves free trade with Virginia, 684 ; answer 
of, to Lord Baltimore's claims, 685 ; memorial 
of, to the States General, 685, 686 ; new condi- 
tions offered by, 688 ; rebukes Stuyvesant's big- 
otry and enjoins toleration, 707 ; concessions 
of, to Puritans proposing to settle on the Rari- 
tan, 707, 708 ; cedes the whole South River to 
the city of Amsterdam, 714 , instructs Stuyve- 
sant on the subject, 716 ; suspicious of Win- 
throp, 718 ; security required for Stuyvesant's 
bill on, 720 ; charter of, denied by Connecticut, 
721 ; remonstrance of Convention and Stuyve- 
sant's dispatch to, 723 ; held responsible for 
disorders on Long Island, 728 ; expenditure of, 
for New Netherland, 729 ; charter of, explained 
by the States General, 730 ; instructions of, to 



800 



INDEX. 



Stuyvesant, 730; desires a cession of Mohawk 
lands, 732 ; last dispatch of, to Stuyvesant, 737 ; 
last dispatch of Stuyvesant to, 740 ; general 
scope of its policy, 746. 
U'esterhouse, case of, 479, 480, 496, 500, 519. 
Westphalia, general treaty of, 435 ; proclaimed in 

New Netherland, 517. 
Wethersfield, settlement at. 257 ; attacked by Pe- 
quods, 270 ; captives from, rescued by the Dutch, 
271. 
Wethouders in Holland, 453. 
Weymouth, George, at the Sagadahoc, 9. 
Whale-flshery at Swaanendael, 205, 207, 225, 

228. 
Whales up the North River, 420, note. 
Wheeler, Thomas, opposes Dutch at West Ches- 
ter, 618 ; submits, and is made magistrate, 619. 
Whiting, William, sent from Hartford to Manhat- 
tan, 339; his enmity to the Dutch, 431, note. 
Whiteneywen, sachem of the Mockgonecocks, 407, 

408. 
Wickendam, William, persecuted at Flushing, 626. 
Wiehackan, purchase near, by Stuyvesant, 642 ; 

see Bergen. 
"Wilhelmus van Nassauwen," origin of the 

Dutch national song, 442, note. 
Wilkins, William, commissary of Gravesend, 596. 
Willett, Captain Thomas, appointed an arbitrator 
at Hartford, 519 ; purchases a confiscated ship 
at Manhattan, 525 ; appointed by New Plym- 
outh to act against the Dutch, 585 ; warns 
Stuyvesant of English expedition, 736 ; retracts, 
737 ; accompanies Cartwright to Fort Orange, 
743 ; at treaty with the Iroquois, 744. 
WiUiam I., Prince of Orange, 19, 101, 185, 440, 
442-446 ; William II., 434, 498, 542 ; William 
HI., 446, 543. 
William, English ship, at Manhattan, 229-231, 

245, 246. 
Williams, Jean, elder of church at New Amstel, 

633. 
Williams, Roger, exiled from Massachusetts, 331 ; 
founds Rhode Island, 332 ; sails from Manhat- 
tan, 354, 355, 359. 
Willys, Samuel, a commissioner on the English 

side, 742, 763. 
Wilmerdonck, Abraham, of Amsterdam, visits 
New Netherland, 730 ; assists at Indian treaty, 
731 ; urges surrender of New Netherland, 741. 
Wiltmeet, Indian fort of, 675. 
WUtwyck, charter of, 690 ; Roelof Swartwout in- 
stalled as schout of, 690 ; new village at, 710; 
attacked by the savages, 711 ; re-enforcements 
sent to, 712 ; palisaded anew, 714 ; is represent- 
ed in General Assembly, 729 ; Swartwout rein- 
stated as schout at, 731 ; soldiers ordered from, 
738. 
Windsor, New Plymouth settlement at, 241, 242, 

257, 260. 
Winslow, Edward, sent to visit Dutch at Narra- 



gansett Bay, 171 ; visits Connecticut, 210, 233 ; 
at Boston, 238 ; imprisoned in London, 257, 258 ; 
again in London, 530. 
Winterberg, Dutch name for the Green Mount 

ains, 733. 
Winthrop, John, a patentee of Massachusetts, 188, 
189; founds Boston, 208; visited by a Connec- 
ticut sachem, 210, 233 ; by Winslow and Brad- 
ford, 238 ; writes to Van Twiller and claims 
Connecticut for the English, 239; reply of Van 
Twiller to, 240 ; Stoughton's letter to, about 
Connecticut, 293 ; authorizes Peters to negotiate 
with West India Company, 323, 324 ; president 
of the New England Commissioners, 362 ; cor- 
respondence with Kieft, 363 ; with Stuyvesant, 
478 ; his " Indians," 429, note ; death of, 499. 
Winthrop, John (the younger), Governor of Con- 
necticut, 260 ; returns to England, 323 ; gives 
passport to Ninigret, 551, 554 ; draws up ad- 
dress to Charles II., 695 ; commissioned as 
agent of Connecticut, 695 ; embarks from New 
Amsterdam, 695 ; his success in England, 702 ; 
at Amsterdam — is suspected by the West India 
Company, 718 ; opposes Stuyvesant at Boston, 
718 ; administers oath to Long Island commis- 
sioners, 726 ; visits Long Island towns, 733 ; in- 
terview with Stuyvesant — insists on English 
title, 734 ; desired to meet royal commissioners, 
737; takes letter from NicoUs to Stuyvesant, 
739; a commissioner on the English side, 742, 
763. 

Winwood, Sir Ralph, 41, 45, 106, 108. 

Wissinck, Jacob Elbertsen, counselor, 164. 

Witherhead, Mary, imprisoned for preaching in 
streets of New Amsterdam, 636. 

Witsen, Gerrit Jacobsen, 46, 63, 138, note. 

Witt, Captain John de, on the Mauritius River, 
46, 54. 

Witt, John de, grand pensionary of Holland, 567; 
negotiates treaty with Cromwell, 586 ; his ob- 
servations on the Dutch, 103, 457, 458. 

Witt, Pieter Jansen de, magistrate of Boswyck, 
693. 

Wolf, Dirck de, establishes salt-works on Coney 
Island, 694. 

Wolfertsen, Gerrit, one of the Eight Men, 365. 

Women, influence of the Dutch, 463. 

" Wooden Leg," Stuyvesant called the, by the Mo- 
hawks, 493. 

WoodhuU, Richard, at Huntington, on Long Isl- 
and, 671, 703 ; a magistrate under Connecticut, 
726. 

Woolsey, George, a fire-warden at New Amster- 
dam, 487. 

Writings to be attested, 277, 504. 

Wright, Anthony, settles at Oyster Bay, 595. 

Wynkoop, Peter, supercargo of Van Rensselaer's 
ship, 390. 

Yennecock, on Long Inland, land bought at, 300. 



INDEX. 



801 



Yonkers, or Kekesick, purchased by Kieft, 290 ; 
acquired by Van der Donck, and called Colen- 
donck, 421. 

Vork and Albany, James, Duke of, in Holland, 
498 ; grant of Charles II. to, 726, 735 ; appoints 
Colonel Richard NicoUs his deputy governor, 
736 ; grants New Jersey to Berkeley and Car- 
teret, 736 ; New Netherland re-named after titles 
of, 743, 745. 

Yorkshire, Long Island so named by Nicolls, 745- 

Young, Captain John, of Southold, commissioners 
complain of Stuyvesant's treatment of, 625, 626 ; 
a deputy IVom Southold to Connecticut Court, 



703 ; a commissioner of Connecticut on Lon» 
Island, 726. 
Youngs, John, at Southold, 300. 

Zealand, Province of— legend on its early coin, 
20, note, 439, note ; expeditions sent from, to ex- 
plore passage to China, 22 ; East India Cham- 
ber at, opposes Hudson's propositions, 24; 
Chamber of West India company in, 135 ; meet- 
ing of the Nineteen at, 415 ; Chamber at, opposes 
Amsterdam Chamber, 539, 540. 

Zuyder Zee, waters north of Nantucket so called, 
58, 141,756. 



*♦* On page 164, line 1, for " Procurator," read Prosecutor. On page 290, line 26, for " Cow Bay," 
read Martinnehouck. On page 459, line 31, for "they," read were. 



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le.ss honored by future statesmen than it is by his nofemporaries. The volume is a most valuable 
one of State Papers, and is accompanied with an introduction, said to be written by a distinguish- 
ed gentleman of Massachusetts, remarkable as a compact and lucid history of the various treat- 
ies, and the Diplomatic Correspondence of the work. The book also contains a fine portrait of 
Mr. Webster, and an excellent map of the various boundary lines between the United States and 
the British provinces. — Standard. 



Clay's (Cassias M.) Writings ; 



Including Speeches and Addresses. Edited, with a Preface and Memoir, by 
HoR.^cE Greeley, Esq. With Portrait. 8vo, Muslin, $1 50. 

This lieautiful edition of the good sayings of a man battling for the principles of universal free- 
dom. We venture to say that no one can read this compilation without feeling a deeper and 
livelier sense of the loveliness of freedom, and a more profound hatred of oppression. The Pref- 
ace and Memoir from the pen of H. Greeley are alone worth the price of the work. — Cleveland 
Democrat. 

His works are the genuine product of the agitations of the times, and will have their eflfect in 
the formation of public opinion. — New York Evening Post. 



Abbott's Summer in Scotland. 



With Numerous Illustrations. 12mo, Muslin, SI 00. 

Truthful in its descriptions, beautiful in its style, and unexceptionable in its moral tone. — Lon- 
don Athencr.um. 

We have been strangely interested in reading the author's account of his voyage, and especial- 
ly the incident of a " Fiineral at Sea," which is detailed with a minuteness and graphic skill sel- 
dom excelled. We commend Mr. Abbott's very agreeable volume to the perusal of our friends 
generally, as one of more than ordinary attraction and interest, especially to those who have any 
affinities in legend-loving Scotland. — Home Journal. 



I'aluablc Standard W/orKs fubiitskcd by Harper cf Brothers. 

Abbott's History of Mary Queen of Scots. 

With an Illuminated Title-page and Numerous Engravings. 12mo, Muslin, 
fiO cents. 

There are portions of it which, not only for the facts related, but for the manner in which they 
are related, can hardly fail to penetrate the inmost soul of the most indifferent reader. — Express 

Abbott's History of King Charles I. of England. 

With an Illuminated Title-page and Numerous Illustrations. 12mo, Muslin^ 
60 cents. 

We are much pleased with these historical works by Mr. Abbott. They are attractively writ- 
ten and published, and will tempt many youthful minds to their cheerful perusal. They are well 
prepared books, and should be sought after.— -Veto York Observer. 

Abbott's History of Alexander the Great. 

With an Illuminated Title-page and Numerous Illustrations. 12mo, Muslin, 
60 cents. 

We have read its pages with the most intense interest ; it combines the sterling worth of his- 
torical truth with the enchantment of romance.— fc'as^em Times. 

Abbott's History of Hannibal. 

With an Illuminated Title-page and Numerous Illustrations. I2mo, Muslin, 
60 cents. 

A beautiful series of historical narratives, designed by the author for popular reading. The 
works are well adapted for this object, as leading events in history are detailed in conformity 
with ideas and conceptions of our time. — Baltimore American. 

Abbott's History of Queen Elizabeth of England. 

With an Illuminated Title-page and Numerous Illustrations. 12mo, Mu,slin, 

60 rx^nts. 

Mr. Abbott's series of popular biographies are among the most attractively published books of 
the day, from the taste and elegance of type, paper, form of printing, and the selections of the 
engravings.— Literary World. 

Abbott's History of King Charles II. of England. 

With an Illuminated Title-page and Numerous Illustrations. 12mo, Muslin, 
60 cents. 

Abbott's History of Julius Ca;sar. 

With an Illuminated Title-page and Numerous Illustrations. 12mo, Muslin, 
60 cents. 

Abbott's History of Maria Antoinette of France. 

With an Illuminated Title-page and Numerous Illustrations. 12mo, Muslin, 
60 cents. 

Abbott's History of King Richard III. of England. 

With an Illuminated Title-page and Numerous Illustrations. 12mo, Muslin, 
GO (-ents. 

Abbott's History of Alfred the Great. 

With an Illuminated Title-page and Numerous Illustrations. 12mo, Muslin, 
60 cents. 

Abbott's Kings and Queens; 

Or, Life in the Palace : consisting of Historical Sketches of Josephine and 
Maria Louisa, Louis Philippe, Ferdinand of Austria, Nicholas, Isabella II., 
Leopold, and Victoria. With Numerous Engravings. 12mo, Muslin, $1 00. 

Simple in style, clear in narrative, and admirably adapted to excite the interest of the reader. 
No writer of the day has a happier faculty at making books of this kind acceptable and useful 
than Mr. Abbott. — New York Courier. 

This series of historical works by Mr. Abbott, intended to embrace the biographies of the great 
personages of all times, is well conceived and well executed. The illustrations are numerou* 
and appropriate.— i/ntOB. 



Valuable Standard Works Published by Harper tj- Brothers. 7 

Neal's History of the Puritans, 

From the Reformation in 1518 to the Revolution in 1688 ; comprising an Ac- 
count of their Principles, Sufferings, and the Lives and Characters of their 
most considerable Divines. With Notes, by J. O. Choules, D.D. With 
Portraits. 2 vols. 8vo, Muslin, $3 50 ; Sheep, M 00. 

This valuable, and interesting work develops the causes of the primitive settlement of the col- 
onies of New England, containing the most compendious view of the United States in their early 
provincial dependence which can be found. The history is judicious, impartial, and uuimpeach- 
ably accurate and authentic. — Christian Intelligencer. 

Forster's Lives of Celebrated British Statesmen. 

Comprising Sir John Eliot (Portrait) ; Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford ; 
John Pym (Portrait) ; John Hampden (Portrait) ; Sir Henry Vane the Young- 
er ; Henry Marten ; Oliver Cromwell (Portrait). With a Treatise on the 
popular Progress in English History. Edited by the Rev J. O. Choules. 
8vo, Muslin, $1 75 ; Sheep, $2 00. 

There is no period in the history of mankind more truly interesting to every intelligent Amer- 
ican than that of the Commonwealth of England ; and there is no form in which it can be so 
perfectly understood as in the personal history of the great leaders of that age. — Onondaga Dem. 

Lamartine's History of the Girondists ; 

Or, Personal Memoirs of the Patriots of the French Revolution. From un- 
published Sources. 3 vols. 12mo, Paper, $1 80; Muslin, $2 10. 

The style of Lamartine heightens the interest of the scenes here portrayed, which in them- 
selves possess the elements of romance beyond those of any other period of the world's history. 
There are lessons of immeasurable value, and they deserve to be studied attentively.— Oftseruer 

Pardoe's (Miss) Louis the Fourteenth, 

And the Court of France in the Seventeenth Century. Numerous Engrav- 
ings, Portraits, &c. 2 vols. 12mo, Muslin, $3 50 ; imitation Morocco, gilt 
edges, $4 25. 

An accession to our literature, as eminently useful as it is delightful. — British Quarterly Rev. 
A most delightful history. As we read, warriors, churchmen, statesmen, poets, and artist* 
crowd the scene, and render almost too rich the page. — London Weekli/ Chronicle. 

Dryden's Complete Works. 

With a Memoir. Portrait. 2 vols. 8vo, Sheep extra, $3 75. 

The public voice has assigned to Dryden the first place in the second rank of our poets — no 
mean station in a table of intellectual precedency so rich in illustrious names. His manner is al- 
most perfect. Magnificent versification and ingenious combinations rarely harmonized with ex- 
pressions of deep feeling. — Macaulay. 

Saurin's Sermons. 

Translated by Rev. R. Robinson, and others. Revised and corrected by Rev. 
S. BuRDER, A.M. Portrait. 2 vols. 8vo, Sheep extra, $3 75. 

Saurin is always copious, elegant, and devout.— Dr. Blair. 

The plainness of Tillotson, the unction of Massillon, the richness of Barrow, the power of 
Horsley, and the evangelical faithfulness of Du Bosc, are all, in a degree, mingled and concen 
trated in the sermons of our author.— Dr. Henshaw. 

Prideaux's Connection of the Old and New Testaments, 

In the History of the Jews and neighboring Nations, from the Declension of 
the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah to the Time of Christ. 2 vols. 8vo, Sheep 
extra, $3 75. 

A standard book in theological literature : there are some works, especially, without the knowl- 
edge of which the Scriptures can not be profoundly or accurately comprehended, and Prideaux's 
is one of them. We know not how to express our high opinion of the value of this production 
especially for students and ministers. — Methodist Quarterly Review. 

Brown's Dictionary of the Holy Bible ; 

Containing an Account of the Persons, Places, and other Objects, and an 
Explanation of Terms, &c. With a Life of the Author, and an Essay on the 
Evidences of Christianity. 8vo, Sheep, extra, $1 75. 

In this valuable compendium of Biblical science and illustration the author has incorporated 
the quintessence of numerous old divines, such as Turretine, Pictet, Mastricht, and Owen. It is 
a book of such various, extensive, and acknowledged merit, that perhaps there is no work of its 
size more useful in the study of the Scritpures. It will be found peculiarly useful to studantp 
of divinity and theologians. 



8 Valuable Standard Works Published by Harper tf Bi others. 

Brande's Encyclopedia of Science, Literature, and \\'\ 

Comprising the History, Description and Scientitic Principles of every Branch 
of Human Knowledge, &c. Edited by W. T. Brande, F.R.S.L. and E , as- 
sisted by J. Gauvin, Esq. The various Departments by eminent Literary and 
Scientific Gentlemen. Numerous Engravings. 8vo, Sheep extra, $4 00. 

This valuable work, for accurate informatiun upon a vast variety of subjects brought up to the 
present day and carefully digested, is unrivaled and unequaled. — Tail's Magazine. 

Clear and authentic, copious without prolixity, it does not furnish a bald explanation of fact* 
and terms, but a development of principles well illustrated and explained. — Times. 

He who has no encyclopedia will find it an excellent substitute for one ; and he who has, will 
find it a valuable supplement. — Eclectic Revieic. 

Blair's Sermons. 

To which is prefixed the Life and Character of the Author, by James Fin- 
LAYsoN, D.D. 8vo, Muslin, $1 50. 

The writings of this eminent scholar and divine have long been regarded as among the purest 
models of English style ; terse, polished, and perspicuous, they exhibit the true and perfect stand- 
ard of pulpit eloquence. No person can jieruse these masterly productions without having his 
understanding invigorated, and his love for the true and beautiful matured. — jY. Y. Courier. 

Stephens's Books of Travels. 

Travels in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan. Map and 88 En- 
gravings. 2 vols. 8vo, Muslin, $5 00. 

Incidents of Travel in Yucatan. With 120 Engravings, from Drawings 
by F. Catherwood, Esq. 2 vols. 8vo, Muslin, $5 00. 

Ttavels in Greece, Turkey, Russia, and Poland. Engravings. 2 vols. 
12mo, Muslin, $1 75. 

Travels in Egypt, Arabia Petr^a, and the Holy Land. Engravings. 
2 vols. 12m(), Muslin, $1 75. 

Very pleasant volumes. Such is the spirit of the author's descriptions, and the vivid force and 
truth of his narrative, that reading his work is like accompanying him on his route. — Athenaum. 

The pleasantest and best works that have lately apjieared. — London Spectator. 

Thirl wall's History of Greece. 

2 vols. 8vo, Muslin, S3 50 ; Sheep extra, $4 00. 

A History of Greece, written with profound and well-digested learning. No history now eiisa 
111 German, or in any language, whicli can be compared with Thirlwall's. — Eclectic Review. 
His work IS candid, learned, and honest. — Southern Quarterly ReviexB. 

Crabb's English Synonyms Explained. 

With copious Illustrations and Explanations, drawn from the best Writers. 
8vo, Sheep extra, $2 00. 

Wherever the English language is spoken, this book will prove of utility, and, next to the Bible 
and Dictionary, should have a place in every household. — American Review. 

Alison's History of Europe, 

From the Commencement of the French Revolution in 1789 to the Restora- 
tion of the Bourbons in 1815. In addition to the Notes on Chapter LXXVJ., 
which correct the errors of the original work concerning the United States, 
a copious Analytical Index has been appended to this American Edition. 4 
vols. 8vo, Musl'in, $4 75 ; Sheep extra, f 5 00. 

By far the most remarkable historical work of the century. It exhibits remarkable ililiuence, and 
does impartial justice on higher principles than have yet been announced in history. — Quart. Rev. 

Alison combines the minutest attention to detail, the utmost carefulness in authenticating facts, 
with the greatest facility in deducing principles and laying them before the reader. — Times. 

One of the noblest offerings which our age has laid upon the altar of historic literature. — Black- 
wood's Magazine. 

Alison's Military Life of John, Duke of Marlborough. 

With Maps. 12mo, Muslin^ $1 00. 

A volume of great value to the general reader. — Literary Gazette. 

It presents a more favorable specimen of the author's style than his greater " History of Eu 
yiipe." — London Spectator. 

Troly's Life of George IV. 

With Ani-cdoics of distingtiished Persons. 18mo, Muslin, 45 cents. 



Valuable Standard Works Published by Harper ^ Brothers. ^ 

MilTs Logic, Ratiocinalive and Inductive: 

Being a connected View of the Principles of Evidence and Methods of Sci- 
entific Investigation. 8vo, Muslin, $2 00. 

A production, we predict, which will distinguish the age ; which no scholar should be without ; 
but which, above all, should be the manual of every lawyer. The style is, in our judgment, a 
model ; in thought a« in method, clear as crystal ; m expression, precise as the symbolical lan- 
guage of Algebra. — Democratic Review. 

Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England. 

With the last Corrections of the Author, and Notes, from the Twenty-nrst 
London Edition. Adapted to the American Student, by John L. Wendell, 
Esq. With a Memoir of the Author. 4 vols. 8vo, Sheep, $7 00. 

We have great pleasure in coinmeuding Blackstone's " Commentaries," because a knowledge 
of the great principles of the law is an essential part of a gentleman's, and especially of a minis- 
ter's education. And, moreover, in a republic, where every man is a citizen, some acquaintance 
with the law, such as any one may derive from Blackstone, is almost indispensable for the proper 
discharge of our most ordinary public duUes.— Methodist Quarterly Review. 

Howilt's Homes and Haunts of the British Poets. 

With Numerous Illustrations. 2 vols. 12mo, Muslin, $3 00. 

Full of beautiful descriptions, of lively and affecting anecdotes ; full of the lessons of human 
experience, and the teachings of human weakness and griefs ; and as full of inspirations to the 
young mind and heart.— GoWen Rule. 

Howitt's History of Priestcraft in all Ages and Countries. 

12mo, Muslin, 60 cents. 

Mr. Howitt is a Quaker, and, consequently, treats all forms with but little respect. But the 
statements which he has collected with regard lo priestcraft from the early ages among pagan 
and Christian nations we presume to be authentic, and they certainly show the overwhelming and 
wicked power exerted over the minds and bodies of men in centuries past by those who have dis- 
graced their holy office. 

James's Life of Henry IV., 

King of France and Navarre. 2 vols. 12mo, Muslin, $2 50. 

His peculiar power consists in being able to describe with wonderful spirit busy and stirring 
scenes, to bring out into bold relief pictures of daring and courage, to delineate with a few bold 
strokes a landscape, and occasionally to portray the deeper and finer feelings of human nature, 
which few succeed in handling well. There are scenes of infinite beauty and touching pathos in 
his works. — Times. 

James's Life of Charlemagne. 

With an Introductory View^ of the History of France. 18mo, Muslin, 45 
cents. 

Light has been shed upon the darkness of that remote age ; and the world of science is indebted 
to Mr. James for the means of readily acquiring a complete and satisfactory knowledge, in ail its 
details, of the first great epoch in European history. — Courier. 

James's History of Chivalry and the Crusades. 

Engravings. 18mo, Muslin, 45 cents. 

The historical details embraced in this volume are extremely curious and amusing ; and the 
accounts of ancient customs pertaining to the various orders of knighthood engaged in the holy 
wars furnish much pleasant reading, as well as food for contemplation on the obsolete follies of 
mankind. 

M'Culloch's Universal Gazetteer, 

Geographical, Statistical, and Historical. In which the Articles relating to 
the United States are re-written, multiplied, and extended, and adapted to 
the present Condition of the Country, &c. By Daniel Haskell, A.M. With 
Seven Maps. 2 vols. Svo, Muslin, $6 00 ; Sheep extra, 16 50. 

The English language has never been adorned by a more valuable work of this kind than the 
new and splendid work of M'CuUoch. A work first in this species of literature ; it is one of great 
research, comprehensive in its plan, and minute in its details. To him who wishes to take a 
survey of' the world and its inhabitants, it will be found to be without a rival. — Methodist Quar- 
terly Review. 

Wilson's Lives of Wonderful and Eccentric Characters 

Comprising Memoirs and Anecdotes of the most remarkable Persons of everv 
Age and Nation. Portraits. Svo, Muslin, $1 90. 



ID Valuable Standard Works I'ablislicd lij Harper <^ Brothers. 

Harpers Illustrated Standard Poets. 

Cowper's Poetical Works, with a Biographical and Critical Introduction, 
by Rev. T. Dale. Illustrated by 75 Engravings. 8vo, Muslin, gilt edges, 
$3 75 ; Imitation Morocco, gilt edges, $4 25 ; Morocco, gilt edges, S5 00. 

Goldsmith's Poetical Works, with Numerous Exquisite Designs, engrav- 
ed in the highest Style of Art. With a Biographical Memoir, and Notes 
on the Poems. Edited by Bolton Corney, Esq. 8vo, Muslin, gilt edges, 
$2 50 ; Imitation Morocco, gilt edges, $3 25 ; Morocco, gilt edges, $3 75. 

Milton's Poetical Works, Illustrated by 120 Splendid Engravings. With 
a Memoir and Critical Remarks on his Genius and Writings, by James Mont- 
gomery. 8vo, Muslin, gilt edges, $3 75 ; Imitation Morocco, gilt edges, $4 25 ; 
Morocco, gilt edges, $5 00. 

Thomson's Seasons, with Numerous Illustrations, and the Life of the 
Author, by Patrick Murdoch, D.D., F.R.S. Edited by Bolton Corney, Esq. 
8vo, Muslin, gilt edges, $2 75 ; Imitation Morocco, gilt edges, $3 50 ; Mo- 
rocco, gilt edges, $4 00. 

We have seen nothing that pleases us more than these handsome editions of the fireside poets. 
The Harpers have given us Milton, Thomson, Goldsmith, and Cowper in a form that constantly 
gratifies the taste, while the beauties of the author are spread the more attractively before the 
mind. It is pleasant to read a book well printed ; but to read the old standard poets in such 
style as they are now furnished is a real luxury, and we trust that the publishers will continue 
their series of these classics until they have completed the course of English poetry. Cowper is 
emphatically the domestic poet, and his verse ought to be the household property of every family 
111 which the English tongue is spoken. — New York Observer. 

Harper's Illuminated and Pictorial Bible, 

Including the Apocrypha. Superbly embellished by over Sixteen Hundred 
Engravings, exclusive of a Series of rich Illuminations in Colors, compris- 
ing Frontispieces, Presentation Plate, Family Record, Title-pages, &,c. Folio, 
Turkey Morocco, extra gilt, $22 50 ; Morocco antique, extra gilt, $24 00. 

For the richness and rarity of its embellishments, this volume far surpasses any thing of the 
kind extant. We earnestly commend this Pictorial Bible to the public, and hope to see it pre- 
served and handed down as an heir-loom in every family. — Auburn Journal. 

A more fitting gift from parent to child— a more appropriate souvenir from friend to friend — 
can not be imagined. And none would be so likely to be preserved with hallowed care by the 
recipient. — Columbian. 

Harper's Illustrated Shakespeare. 

Superbly Embellished by over Fourteen Hundred exquisite Engravings. With 
Notes and other Illustrations, by Hon. Gulian C Verplanck. 3 vols, royal 
8vo, Muslin, $18 00 ; half Calf, $20 00 ; Morocco, gilt edges, $25 00. 
For other Editions of Shakespeare, see the 7iext Number. 
It will unquestionably be placed at the head of all the editions of Shakespeare ever published, 
by every discriminating critic and Shakesperian student. With the editions of Payne Collier, 
Knight, and Singer to select from, and the entire wealth of art which England has recently lav- 
ished on the illustrations of her great poet at the command of the engraver, it could not v,e\l have 
been otherwise. — Standard. 

Moore's Philosophical Works. 

Man and his Motives. 12mO; Muslin, .50 cents. 

The Power of the Soul over the Body. 12mo, Muslin, TiO cents. 

The Use of the Body in Relation to the Mind. 12m(), Muslin, 50 cents. 

Books fitted to dispose minds to reflection which may not have evinced any such tendency, and 
to the most reflecting they will not fail to supply welcome materials for thought. — British Quar- 
terly Review. 

These all are subjects of the highest interest, and are treated by the author with ability, with 
just and apposite illustrations, and well-conducted argument. — Gentleman's Magazine. 

One jumps at such books as these as one lights a candle on finding himself in a dark and strange 
room. We have read these interesting volumes with great instruction and pleasure. — N. P. 
Willis, Home Journal. 

D'Aubigne's Discourses and Essays. 

Translated from the French by Charles W. Baird. With an Introduction 
by Rev. Dr. Baird. 12mo, Muslin, 75 cents. 

We commend to our readers these Discourses of D'Anbigni^. They are full of genius, lumin- 
ous with the wisdom, and glowing with the philanthropy of Christianity. — Cincinnati Herald. 

No one can read a page of these Discourses without being struck with their dissimilarity t > 
\merican sermons. — Cincinnati Atlas. 



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